Case Name: CITY OF BELTON v. OMAHA TRUST CO.
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1927-01-26
Citations: 17 F.2d 90
Docket Number: No. 4717
Parties: CITY OF BELTON v. OMAHA TRUST CO.
Judges: Before WALKER, BRYAN, and POSTER, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 2d Series
Volume: 17
Pages: 90–90

Head Matter:
CITY OF BELTON v. OMAHA TRUST CO.
(Circuit Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
January 26, 1927.)
No. 4717.
W. W. Naman, of Waco, Tex., and Clem C. Countess, of Belton, Tex. (Spell, Naman & Penland, of Waco, Tex., on the brief), for appellant.
John Maxwell, of Waco, Tex., and W. P. Dumas, of Dallas, Tex., for appellee.
Before WALKER, BRYAN, and POSTER, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
The Omaha Trust Company, as owner of 18 paying warrants, of the denomination of $500 each, issued by the eity of Belton, brought suit to recover $1,000, the face value of the only two warrants past due, $780 past-due interest on the remaining warrants, which had not matured, and an attorney's fee of 10 per cent, on those amounts. Plaintiff's demand in the aggregate amounted to $2,177.83, for which sum judgment was entered. His petition, however, sought to establish the validity of' the unmatured warrants, and on this ground it is claimed that more than the jurisdictional amount of $3,000 is in controversy.
Jurisdiction was invoked on the ground of diversity of citizenship. Judicial Code, " § 24 (1), being Comp. St. § 991. We are of opinion that the District Court did not have jurisdiction, because, on the face of the petition and from the nature of the demand, it was not legally possible for plaintiff to recover as much as- $3,000. Vance v. Vandercook, 170 U. S. 468, 18 S. Ct. 645, 42 L. Ed: 1111; Smithers v. Smith, 204 U. S. 632, 642, 27 S. Ct. 297, 51 L. Ed. 656.
The judgment is reversed, with directions to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction.