Starr v. Mitchell

Decision Date20 June 1950
Docket NumberNo. 27814,27814
Citation231 S.W.2d 299
PartiesSTARR v. MITCHELL.
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals

Robert E. Brown, Palmyra, for appellant.

Carstarphen & Harvey, Hannibal, for respondents.

BENNICK, Commissioner.

This is a suit to set aside a trustee's deed which was executed on sale under a deed of trust which had been given to secure the payment of two promissory notes, each for the amount of $500.

In their petition plaintiffs charged that defendant, while acting as their agent, had acquired a certain promissory note which they had executed, and then, in violation of the agreement existing between them, had fraudulently caused a foreclosure proceeding to be instituted, and had caused a deed of conveyance to himself of the land described in the deed of trust to be placed in the records of Marion County.

Plaintiffs further charged that such attempted foreclosure was null and void for the reason that the trustee named in the deed of trust had purported to act and sell by a substitute in a manner not authorized by law.

The prayer was that the court order that the trustee's deed to defendant be canceled and held for naught; that the cloud thereof be removed from plaintiffs' title; that the note which had been purportedly canceled of record after assignment to defendant be restored to its proper place on the record; and that plaintiffs recover damages in the sum of $3,000 because of defendant's alleged wrongful conduct.

For his answer defendant denied the existence of a fiduciary relationship between himself and plaintiffs, and further denied any illegality in the foreclosure sale, or any illegality in connection with his purchase of the property at such sale and the execution of the trustee's deed to him.

Pleading in the alternative, defendant prayed the court that if the foreclosure sale should be held to have been irregular for the reasons alleged in plaintiffs' petition, then in that event a judicial foreclosure be decreed; and he concluded with a counterclaim in which he prayed judgment against plaintiffs in the sum of $1,790.95.

After hearing the evidence the court rendered a decree adjudging that the trustee's deed to defendant was without force and effect and ordering that the same be canceled and for naught held. The alternative prayer for a judicial foreclosure was denied; and the decree recited that the issues involving damages and an accounting had been abandoned by the respective parties.

The decree was rendered on April 8, 1949. In due time defendant filed his motion for a new trial, which was considered by the court and overruled. The transcript of the record shows that the motion was overruled on May 28, 1949. It was not until thirteen days later, or on June 10, 1949, that defendant undertook to appeal; and so far as the transcript of the record is concerned, it merely shows the filing of an affidavit for appeal such as was employed under the former practice. However the clerk of the circuit court has transmitted to this court a copy of a notice of appeal dated June 10, 1949, and reciting that the appeal was taken from the final judgment and order overruling the motion for a new trial allegedly entered on May 31, 1949, just ten days prior to the notice of appeal. Nothing in either the record or the file affords any explanation of such inconsistency in dates.

The transcript was afterwards filed in this court, and the case is now under submission for such disposition as the facts and circumstances may require.

While our jurisdiction is not challenged, a question arises on the very threshold of the case as to whether we do in fact have jurisdiction, or whether, on the contrary, jurisdiction is in the Supreme Court.

The answer of course depends upon whether ...

To continue reading

Request your trial
10 cases
  • Domyan v. Dornin
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • August 8, 1961
    ...incidents and prerogatives of (such) jurisdiction, and negatives the existence of any such power in any other court.' Starr v. Mitchell, Mo.App., 231 S.W.2d 299, 301; Id., 361 Mo. 908, 237 S.W.2d 123. And, being invested with appellate jurisdiction on one issue, the Supreme Court will retai......
  • Morrow v. Caloric Appliance Corp.
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • December 5, 1962
    ...incidents and prerogatives of (such) jurisdiction, and negatives the existence of any such power in any other court.' Starr v. Mitchell, Mo.App., 231 S.W.2d 299, 301, transferred 361 Mo. 908, 237 S.W.2d 123. And, being invested with appellate jurisdiction on one issue, the Supreme Court wil......
  • Fincher v. England, 9003
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • January 14, 1971
    ... ... Mo.Const. art. V, § 13; Winslow v. Sauerwein, 365 Mo. 269, 274, 282 S.W.2d 14, 17(4); Starr v. Mitchell, Mo.App., 231 S.W.2d 299, 301(3, 4). The fundamental inquiry in determining whether or not an appeal involves the title to real estate ... ...
  • Cobble v. McDonald
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • January 21, 1958
    ...we pass the pot to that court without stirring, probing, or sampling the contents. Art. 5, sec. 11, Constitution of 1945; Starr v. Mitchell, Mo.App., 231 S.W.2d 299; Mo., 237 S.W.2d 123; Winslow v. Sauerwein, 365 Mo. 269, 282 S.W.2d 14; see Taney County v. Addington, Mo.App., 296 S.W.2d 129......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT