Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/207/93/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 10:27:56+00:00

Document:
In a case coming from a state court, this Court can consider only federal questions decided adversely to the plaintiff in error and upon which a decision was necessary to the decision of the case, and if the judgment complained of is supported also upon other and independent grounds it must be affirmed or the writ of error dismissed.
When the record discloses other and completely adequate grounds on which to support the judgment of a state court, this Court does not commonly inquire whether the decision upon them was correct, or reach a federal question by determining that they ought not to have been held to warrant the result.
Writ of error to review 218 Ill. 246 dismissed.
to its judgment upon the third and fourth pleas, stated that it had overlooked the first and second, that the judgment could be sustained upon them, that there was evidence to support them both, or at least the first, and that the referee's finding might be supported under the first. On these grounds, the judgment was affirmed. 218 Ill. 246.
conclusively. It says that matters culminated in the agreement of March 25, and finds that, as part of the consideration of that deed, the plaintiff promised to pay.
The judgment purported to be based upon the referee's report, and it may be that, if it were our concern to deal with it, we should find it hard to discover sufficient warrant for a judgment on the first or second pleas. The general line of thought which the report follows seems to lead to the third and fourth. The conclusion is that the defendant is entitled to recover the amount of the judgment mentioned in the third plea, and this follows immediately after the finding of the plaintiff's promise. The plaintiff excepted to the referee's failure to find that everything was done under the January contract. And further reasons might be given for thinking that the court below was wrong. Even if the words of the judgment, "renders judgment on said referee's report," should be held to include the evidence as well as the referee's findings, and if it should be presumed that one of the courts below the supreme court of the state had reconsidered the evidence before entering or affirming the judgment, still, although there was evidence enough of the defendant's advances to the railway company, we might assume, for purposes of argument, that there was nothing sufficient to make out a promise on the plaintiff's part before March. But, on the most favorable statement that we can make on the side of the plaintiff in error, we can see no ground for coming to this Court.
It is admitted that the general and well settled rule is that, in a case coming from a state court, this Court can consider only federal questions, and that it cannot entertain the case unless the decision was against the plaintiff in error upon those questions. Murdock v. Memphis, 20 Wall. 590; Sauer v. New York, 206 U. S. 536, 206 U. S. 546. It is admitted further, that a decision upon those questions must have been necessary to the decision of the case, so that, if the judgment complained of is supported also upon other and independent grounds, the judgment must be affirmed or the writ of error dismissed, as the case may be.
Murdock v. Memphis, supra. But Murdock v. Memphis does not stop there. It further establishes that, when the record discloses such other and completely adequate grounds this Court commonly does not inquire whether the decision upon them was or was not correct, or reach a federal question by determining that they ought not to have been held to warrant the result. 87 U. S. 20 Wall. 590, 87 U. S. 635; Eustis v. Bolles, 150 U. S. 361, 150 U. S. 369; Castillo v. McConnico, 168 U. S. 674, 168 U. S. 679.
Of course, there might be cases where, although the decision put forward other reasons, it would be apparent that a federal question was involved, whether mentioned or not. It may be imagined, for the sake of argument, that it might appear that a state court, even if ostensibly deciding the federal question in favor of the plaintiff in error, really must have been against him upon it, and was seeking to evade the jurisdiction of this Court. If the ground of decision did not appear and that which did not involve a federal question was so palpably unfounded that it could not be presumed to have been entertained, it may be that this Court would take jurisdiction. Johnson v. Risk, 137 U. S. 300, 137 U. S. 307. But there is nothing of that sort in this case. At first, having in mind only the third and fourth pleas, to which alone the judgment of the United States court was a bar, the supreme court decided in favor of the plaintiff. It affirmed the judgment below only upon a rehearing, and after its attention had been called to the first and second pleas. It did not recede from or qualify its former decision so far as that went, but simply pointed out that there were other pleas to which the replication of res judicata did not apply, and on which the judgment might be upheld. Suppose that it was mistaken as to the evidence, the mistake was upon a matter admitting of hesitation, for which it would seem from the opinion that there were special reasons in the state of the record and the admission of counsel. The question is one with which, by the general rule, we have nothing to do, and we see no reason why the general rule should not be applied.
The first and second pleas were on the record and at issue.
The plaintiff had notice that the defendant meant to prevail on whatever ground he could. He had his hearing, even if it should be thought that he might have insisted on a ruling that there was no evidence to support those pleas. However it is put, the claim of a right to resort to this Court after the only federal question has been decided in the plaintiff's favor must fail.

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