Watson v. Horner
| Decision Date | 21 November 1916 |
| Docket Number | 30924 |
| Citation | 159 N.W. 1032,178 Iowa 499 |
| Parties | ALBERT C. WATSON, Appellee, v. WILLIAM HORNER et al., Appellants |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Appeal from Dallas District Court.--W. H. FAHEY, Judge.
PETITION to vacate and set aside a judgment, and for a new trial of an action in which Albert C. Watson was plaintiff and William Horner was defendant, wherein Watson secured judgment by default against Horner for the sum of $ 800 and costs, the said action growing out of an automobile accident, the defendant William Horner being the owner and driver of the car which struck Watson. The petition is bottomed on the insanity of Horner at the time the original notice was served and at the time judgment was rendered against him, Horner making no appearance either in person or by attorney, and no guardian having been appointed for him. The trial court denied the petition, and Oliver Horner, who was appointed guardian for William, and who filed the petition in this case, appeals.--Reversed and Remanded.
Reversed and Remanded.
Burton Russell, for appellants.
White & Clarke, for appellee.
Plaintiff Watson was injured by an automobile driven by William Horner about September 21, 1914, and, after some correspondence with reference thereto with defendant's father. Oliver Horner he commenced action against William, on or about December 22 1914. The original notice was served personally on William Horner on December 22, 1914, by the sheriff of Dallas County. The action was commenced for the January, 1915, term of the Dallas County district court. Defendant made no appearance to the suit, and, default having been entered against him, plaintiff made his showing, and on January 11, 1915, the court rendered judgment against William Horner for the sum of $ 800 and costs.
On April 16, 1915, upon a petition duly filed by Oliver Horner against William Horner, the district court of Dallas County, after a hearing, found that William Horner was a person of unsound mind and in need of a guardian, and on the same day, Oliver Horner was appointed permanent guardian of William, and letters were issued to him on April 20th of the same year. Theretofore, Oliver had been appointed temporary guardian for William, and, as we understand it, he commenced this action to vacate and set aside the original judgment on February 16, 1915.
The grounds for setting aside and vacating the judgment were that defendant William Horner was insane at the time the original action was commenced and at the time the judgment was rendered, and that he did not appear either in person or by attorney, nor was any guardian appointed for him in that proceeding. The guardian also pleaded that defendant William Horner had a good defense to the original action. These were the issues. On the trial, it was shown that William Horner was found to be insane by the commissioners of insanity of his county, and ordered committed to the hospital for insane on May 13, 1902; that he remained at the hospital until November 17th of the same year, when he was discharged as cured. Again, on March 31, 1903, he was adjudged insane by the commission and recommitted to the hospital until December 8, 1905, when he was again discharged as cured. He was finally adjudged insane by the district court on an application by his fathe...
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