Northwestern Brewers Supply Co. v. Vorhees, No. 40249.

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Missouri
• Writing for the Court: Douglas
• Citation: 203 S.W.2d 422
• Parties: NORTHWESTERN BREWERS SUPPLY COMPANY, a Corporation, Appellant, v. MONTGOMERY VORHEES.
• Docket Number: No. 40249.
• Decision Date: 09 June 1947

203 S.W.2d 422 NORTHWESTERN BREWERS SUPPLY COMPANY, a Corporation, Appellant,
v.
MONTGOMERY VORHEES. No. 40249. Supreme Court of Missouri. Division One, June 9, 1947. Rehearing Denied, July 14, 1947.

Appeal from Circuit Court of City of St. Louis. — Hon. James E. McLaughlin and Hon. Joseph J. Ward, Judges.

AFFIRMED.

Harry T. Limerick, Jr., David K. Breed, and Roy R. Stauff for appellant.

(1) Defendant, by admitting in its answer that a judgment is not paid, loses any right to a defense under R.S. 1939, Sec. 1038; this because a party is bound by admissions in his pleadings or by his counsel. Chiles v. School Dist. of Buckner, 103 Mo. App. 240, 77 S.W. 82; Fleming v. Joseph F. McMahon Contr. Co., 45 S.W. (2d) 952; Utterback v. N.Y. Life, 191 S.W. (2d) 421; Eaton v. Curtis, 4 S.W. (2d) 819; Evans v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 129 S.W. (2d) 53; Republic Steel Corp. v. Atlas Housewrecking Co., 113 S.W. (2d) 155; Oscanyan v. Winchester Repeating Arms Co., 103 U.S. 261, 26 L. Ed. 539. (2) "Full Faith and Credit" means full faith and credit in every state, for the full term of the duration of the judgment under the lex fori where the judgment was entered, i.e., Wisconsin. U.S. Constitution, Art. IV, Sec. 1; Berkeley v. Tootle, 163 Mo. 548, 63 S.W. 681; Roche v. McDonald, 275 U.S. 449, 48 S. Ct. 142, 53 A.L.R. 1141; U.S. Code, Title 28, Sec. 687, 26 U.S.C.A., Sec 687; Wisconsin Statutes 1945 (18th Ed.), Secs. 272.04, 270.66; Civil Code of Mo., Sec. 54-b, Mo. Stat. Ann., pocket supp., Sec. 847.54 (b). (3) Even though an action is unlawful under the law of the forum, proof of a duly authenticated foreign judgment makes a prima facie case for the plaintiff. Walter L. Lacey Co. v. Natl. Finance Corp., 79 S.W. (2d) 1078; Geo. Edw. Day Sons v. Robb, 139 S.W. (2d) 533, certiorari quashed, State ex rel. Robb v. Shain, 149 S.W. (2d) 812; Christmas v. Russell, 5 Wall. 290, 18 L. Ed. 475; Roche v. McDonald, supra; Fauntleroy v. Lum, 210 U.S. 231, 28 S. Ct. 641, 52 L. Ed. 1039; Magnolia Petroleum Co. v. Hunt, 320 U.S. 430, 64 S. Ct. 208; Ohio Bureau of Credit v. Steinberg, 29 Ala. App. 515, 199 So. 246; Titus v. Wallick, 306 U.S. 282, 59 S. Ct. 557. (4) If jurisdiction exists, a judgment of one state is good for all purposes in all other states and under all circumstances. Williams v. North Carolina, 63 S. Ct. 207, 317 U.S. 287, 87 L. Ed. 279, 143 A.L.R. 1273, 64 S. Ct. 1286, granting certiorari after a retrial below, and (Final Opinion), 325 U.S. 226, 65 S. Ct. 1092, Rehearing denied, 65 S. Ct. 1560, see particularly l.c. 63 S. Ct. 210, also 65 S. Ct. 1095.

Irvin H. Gamble for respondent.

(1) The 10-year statute of limitations of Missouri can be pleaded and is the proper defense against a Wisconsin judgment that is more than 10 years old; the full faith and credit clause applies only to the merits of the case, not to limitations or remedies. Sec. 1038, R.S. 1939; McElmoyle v. Cohen, 38 S. Ct. 312; Bacon v. Howard, 61 U.S. 811; Metcalf v. Watertown, 153 U.S. 675; Cook's Estate v. Brown, 140 S.W. (2d) 44. (2) Section 1038 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, 1939, is a definite statute and all judgments become dormant and are outlawed 10 years after rendition, unless kept alive by payments of record, made in accordance with the provisions of the statute itself or by revival of the judgment. Sec. 1038, R.S. 1939; Hedges v. McKittrick, 153 S.W. (2d) 790; Mayes v. Mayes, 342 Mo. 401, 116 S.W. (2d) 1; Kansas City v. Field, 270 Mo. 500, 194 S.W. 39; Chiles v. School Dist. of Buckner, 103 Mo. App. 240.

DOUGLAS, P.J.

In January, 1946 plaintiff filed this suit on a Wisconsin judgment rendered on October 31, 1932. Defendant pleaded the Missouri Statute barring suits on judgments after ten years. Plaintiff, in a motion for judgment on the pleadings, alleged that the statute of limitations in Wisconsin, where the judgment was obtained, ran for a period of twenty years, and therefore under the Constitution of the United States the Wisconsin judgment was entitled to full faith and credit for such term, and

203 S.W.2d 423

the Missouri ten-year statute could not be applied. Defendant also filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings based on the ten-year statute. Plaintiff's motion was overruled, defendant's motion was sustained, and the court entered judgment dismissing the petition. Plaintiff appealed.

[1] Plaintiff's position is that full faith and credit means full faith and credit for the full term of the duration of the judgment under the law of the place where the judgment was obtained, and that the statute of Missouri, where suit was brought on the judgment, prescribing a shorter term violated the full faith and credit clause of the Federal Constitution, and was therefore unconstitutional. We are unable to agree with plaintiff's position and find that a similar contention has been overruled in a number of cases. Anno. 52 A.L.R. 566. See also 11 Am. Jur. Conflict of Laws, sec. 192, 34 C.J. Judgments, sec. 1577.

The plea based on a statute limiting an action on a foreign judgment is one to the remedy, and it is the general rule that the law of the forum will govern rather than that of the place where the judgment was rendered.

It was settled in M'Elmoyle v. Cohen (1839), 38 U.S. 312, that this...