Prevost v. Bergeron
| Decision Date | 15 February 1954 |
| Docket Number | No. 20124,20124 |
| Citation | 70 So.2d 401 |
| Parties | PREVOST v. BERGERON. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
E. W. Gravolet, Jr., Pointe a la Hache, for defendant-appellant.
Allen J. Tillery, Arabi, for plaintiff-appellee.
Plaintiff and defendant were neighbors and long-time friends who decided to construct a boat to be used jointly by them for the purposes of hunting and fishing. The plaintiff, Prevost, is a carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade and the defendant, Bergeron, is a mechanic. The boat was constructed in a workshed adjoining the property and residence of the plaintiff at Harahan, Louisiana. Construction work was begun during February 1950, and the boat was launched about three months later. The evidence shows that Prevost performed about seventy-five percent of the work on the boat and furnished most of the tools and electrical power used in the construction project. Bergeron, in his role of mechanic, supervised and performed most of the work connected with the installation of the motor. The boat is characterized as an open runabout measuring 15 1/2 feet in length and equipped with a 60-horsepower engine. After the boat was completed and named 'Dos Gris,' it was placed at a camp in the Parish of Plaquemines where it was used jointly by both parties for a period of more than a year. During all of that time there seemed to have been no disagreement as to the ownership of the boat. According to Prevost, in about March 1952, he advised Bergeron that the cost of maintaining the boat was too much for him to bear and that he, Prevost, desired to sell his one-half interest in the boat. Also, according to Prevost after some negotiations between the parties as to the value of a one-half interest in the boat, Bergeron refused to pay Prevost his half and took the position that Prevost had no interest in the boat. With this state of affairs existing, the plaintiff filed this suit in the Twenty-fifth Judicial District Court for the Parish of Plaquemines alleging that he was the owner of an undivided one-half interest in the boat, and prayed that his ownership in said proportion be recognized, and for a partition by licitation, and for a writ of sequestration commanding the Sheriff of Plaquemines Parish to sequester and hold the boat subject to the further orders of the court.
The boat was seized and the matter was, in due time, tried in the court below and there was judgment in favor of plaintiff as prayed for; the judgment also maintained the writ of sequestration previously issued. Defendant, Bergeron, has taken this appeal from that judgment.
Defendant's answer denies all of plaintiff's allegations. On the day the case was called for trial below defendant interposed an exception of no cause or right of action which was overruled. This exception is now reurged before us.
The exception is grounded first, on the contention that plaintiff's affidavit for the writ of sequestration does not conform to the requirements of Art. 276, Code of Practice, in that it does not set forth the cause for which plaintiff claimed and sought the writ; second, that defendant obtained a Certificate of Award from the United States Coast Guard setting forth the fact that the boat is registered in the name of the defendant and names defendant as the owner thereof. The exception is without merit and was properly dismissed.
Where the petition is sworn to and the allegations in the petition authorize the sequestration, the affidavit is sufficient. Irving v. Edrington, 41 La.Ann. 671, 6 So. 177; Lannes v. Courege, 31 La.Ann. 74. The petition alleges that plaintiff fears that the defendant may part with, conceal, or remove said boat from the jurisdiction of the court pending the trial of the matter, and that a writ of sequestration is necessary to protect plaintiff's rights. This allegation conforms with paragraphs 2 and 8 of C.P. art. 275 and LSA-R.S. 13:4001. The affidavit recites that all the allegations contained in the petition are true and correct.
Defendant takes the position that the Certificate of Award which he obtained ex parte from the United States Coast Guard establishes unassailable ownership of the boat in him. With this we do not agree. It is true that the United States Coast Guard has full jurisdiction over undocumented vessels and manifestly Congress placed such jurisdiction in the Coast Guard for purposes of national security and safety. A certificate issued by this department of the Federal Government showing that a vessel is registered in accordance with the Act of Congress in no wise vests ownership in the name of the registrant. The case of National Oil Transport Co. v. United States, D.C., 18 F.2d 305, 309, is authority for our conclusion. In that case the Court said:
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Kelly v. PORTER, INC.
...that the registry is not conclusive of title. Fort Pitt Nat'l Bank v. Williams, 9 So. 117 (1891); see also Prevost v. Bergeron, 70 So.2d 401, 403 (La.Ct.App.1954) ("The registry of vessels only regulates the natural character of the vessel, and does not furnish evidence of ownership, and a ......