LAW.coLAW.co

DAVIS v. MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF JASPER

Supreme Court of Georgia1903-11-16
119 Ga. 57

Summary

Holding. The writ of error is dismissed. Because the bonds that were the subject of Davis's sought-for injunction had already been issued and delivered to Tate before a bill of exceptions could be perfected and before any supersedeas could be obtained, deciding the underlying questions presented could not result in any practical benefit to the plaintiff.

Davis sought an injunction to prevent the Mayor and Council of Jasper from issuing municipal bonds to Tate, claiming he was the rightful recipient instead. The trial judge denied the injunction on July 27, 1903, and the order was filed with the clerk on July 28. Before Davis could prepare a bill of exceptions or obtain a supersedeas (stay) to suspend the judgment, the defendants issued and delivered the bonds to Tate on July 29. Tate had already paid for the bonds on June 17, prior to Davis's original petition.

Davis appealed by writ of error, but the defendants moved to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the controversy had been rendered moot—the bonds had already been issued and delivered to Tate, who was not a party to the lawsuit and held them in his possession. The appellate court found that because the subject matter of the lawsuit (the issuance and delivery of the bonds) had already occurred and could not be undone, any favorable decision on appeal would provide no practical relief to Davis.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether an appellate court should decide a case when the subject matter of the dispute has already been completed and cannot be undone
  • Effect of failure to obtain a supersedeas on the viability of an appeal from a denied injunction
  • Mootness and justiciability when a third party not part of the suit has already received and paid for the contested property

Procedural posture

Davis petitioned for an injunction in superior court; the judge denied it on July 27, 1903; Davis appealed by writ of error to the state supreme court, but the defendants moved to dismiss the appeal after having issued and delivered the bonds to Tate on July 29.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

Candler, J.

On June 19, 1903, Davis presented to the judge of the superior courts of the Blue Ridge circuit a petition praying for an injunction against the Mayor and Council of Jasper, restraining the defendant from issuing and delivering to Tate certain bonds which he claimed should be issued and delivered to him. A rule nisi was issued by the judge, calling on the defendant to show cause why it should not be enjoined as prayed. The defendant filed an answer, and the case came on to be heard on Saturday, July 25, 1903. The judge took the case under advisement, and on Monday, July 27, at Marietta, Ga., he passed an order refusing the injunction prayed and vacating the temporary restraining order which had previously been passed. The order denying the injunction, it seems, was filed with the clerk of the superior court of Pickens county on July 28, and the plaintiff in error claims that on July 29, before his couusel could prepare and have signed a bill of exceptions to the denying of the injunction, and before it was possible for him to reach the judge to obtain an order superseding the order of July 27, the Mayor and Council of Jasper issued and delivered the bonds to Tate, who, it appears, had, on June 17, 1903, paid to the treasurer of the town of Jasper $3,091, the consideration for the bonds. The bill of exceptions now under consideration was signed by the trial judge bn August 5, 1903. On the call of the case in this court the defendant in error moved to dismiss the writ of error, on the ground that “ since the refusal of the injunction in said case by the court, to which the writ of error was taken, and.before the presentation of the bill of exceptions to the court, and before the certifying and filing thereof, the municipal bonds of the par value of three thousand dollars ($3,000.00), the subject-matter in controversy, the issuing and delivery of which plaintiff seeks by his petition to enjoin, were by the proper authorities, on the 29th day of July, 1903, issued and delivered to Tate, the purchaser thereof, and no supersedeas to the judgment of the court below was obtained, as provided by law.” The truth of the allegations made in the motion to dismiss was admitted by counsel for the plaintiff in error; but in answer to the motion an affidavit was filed, setting up that the defendant knew, or had reason to believe, that the plaintiff would file a bill of exceptions to the order, and that the bonds were issued and delivered to Tate before it was possible for him to reach the judge with an application for a supersedeas. Tate was not a party to the case, and, before the bill of exceptions was tendered to the court, the defendant had issued and delivered to him the bonds, which he had paid for on June 17, two days prior to the presentation to the judge of the original petition for injunction.

In Ambos v. Savannah etc. R. Co., 113 Ga. 1012, this court held that where it appeared that since the refusal of the application for temporary injunction by the court below, the defendant had done all the acts sought to be enjoined, no supersedeas having been granted, the writ of error would be dismissed. To the •same effect is the case of Gallaher v. Schneider, 110 Ga. 322. As was said in Benton v. Singleton, 114 Ga. 548, “In no case will the Supreme Court undertake to pass upon questions presented by a bill of exceptions when an adjudication of them, even though favorable to the plaintiff in error, could not possibly result in any practical benefit to him.” Why should we pass upon the question whether the bid of the plaintiff in error was the highest made for the bonds in question, or whether Tate’s offer was any bid at all, under the facts of this case, when it is admitted that Tate, who is not a party to the suit, has already paid for the bonds and has them in his possession ? See Henderson v. Hoppe, 103 Ga. 684. We do not pass upon any of the questions raised by the bill of exceptions, but, following a long line of decisions by this court, we are compelled to dismiss the writ of error, without prejudice to any of the rights of the plaintiff in error.

Writ of error dismissed.

All the Justices concur.