Case Name: R. E. HIBBERT, Plaintiff, v. William MUDD et al., Defendants and Appellees, State of Louisiana, Defendant and Appellant
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1966-06-02
Citations: 187 So. 2d 503
Docket Number: No. 1704
Parties: R. E. HIBBERT, Plaintiff, v. William MUDD et al., Defendants and Appellees, State of Louisiana, Defendant and Appellant.
Judges: Before TATE, SAVOY and CULPEP-PER, J.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 187
Pages: 503–513

Head Matter:
R. E. HIBBERT, Plaintiff, v. William MUDD et al., Defendants and Appellees, State of Louisiana, Defendant and Appellant.
No. 1704.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana. Third Circuit.
June 2, 1966.
Rehearing Denied June 29, 1966.
Jack P. F. Gremillion, Atty. Gen., John L. Madden, Asst. Atty. Gen., Baton Rouge, Sidney P. Landry, Jr., Sp. Counsel to Atty. Gen., Lafayette, for defendant-appellant.
Domengeaux & Wright, by D. Mark Bienvenu, Lafayette, for defendants-appel-lees.
Bailey & Mouton, by W. C. Hollier, Lafayette, for plaintiff-appellee.
Before TATE, SAVOY and CULPEP-PER, J.

Opinion:
CULPEPPER, Judge.
This is a concursus proceeding instituted by plaintiff, R. E. Hibbert, as owner of an oil, gas and mineral lease granted to him in 1959 by Edna Mudd Anderson and under which lease gas and condensate are now being produced. Impleaded as defendants having conflicting claims to royalties payable under the lease are (1) alleged natural brothers and sisters, and their descendants, (hereinafter referred to as the "Mudd group") of the lessor, who died intestate in 1961, and (2) the State of Louisiana, which claims there are no heirs and that it is entitled to the property by escheat. The trial judge granted a motion for summary judgment recognizing the Mudd group as owners of the property. The State appealed.
At the outset, we will state the law on summary judgments. LSA-C.C.P. Article 966 provides for summary judgment "if the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Our jurisprudence has already established several principles under this statute. In passing on a motion for summary judgment, the court should not attempt to determine any factual issue, but rather should determine only whether there is a genuine issue of material fact. The burden is on the mover to show there is no genuine issue of material fact and all doubts must be resolved against the granting of a summary judgment. Kay v. Carter, et al., 243 La. 1095, 150 So.2d 27; Aymond v. Missouri-Pacific Railroad Company, 179 So.2d 461 (3rd Cir. La.App.1965); Acadia-Vermilion Rice Irrigating Company, Inc. v. Broussard, 185 So.2d 908 (3rd Cir. La.App., 1966); Brown v. B & G Crane Service, Inc., 172 So.2d 708 (4th Cir.).
The applicable law governing inheritance between natural brothers and sisters is succinctly set forth in 7 Loyola Law Review 123-124 (1954), with citation of authority for the matters at issue here added by us in parentheses:
"The natural brothers and sisters of the deceased, or their descendants, inherit from the natural child whose parents predeceased him. The requisites necessary for such inheritance are: (1) the deceased natural child must have left no descendants, legitimate or acknowledged; (2) the natural parents of the deceased must have predeceased him; and the natural parents cannot be considered civilly dead in cases in which they are barred from inheriting by virtue of their failure to acknowledge their natural children in accordance with (Civil Code) article 203 ; (3) the natural child deceased must have left no surviving spouse, as the wife inherits to the exclusion of all natural relations of the husband, and the husband inherits to the exclusion of all of the natural relations of the wife except her duly acknowledged illegitimate children; and (4) there must have been acknowledgment, either formal or informal, by the common parents of not only the natural brothers and sisters but also the natural child deceased. (Succession of Gravier, 125 La. 733, 51 So. 704 (1910); State v. DeLavallade, 215 La. 123, 39 So.2d 845 (1949); Dupre v. Caruthers, 6 La.Ann. 156 (1851); Bourriaque v. Charles, 107 La. 217, 31 So. 757 (1902)) Brothers and sisters of the half-blood have the same right to claim the succession as those of the whole blood. (Lange v. Richoux, 6 La. 560 (1834); Succession of Bonner, 192 La. 299, 187 So. 801 (1939).) Naturally no rights of inheritance exist in cases in which either the surviving or the deceased natural brother or sister could not be acknowledged under the law. Thus the natural brothers and sisters could not inherit from their deceased natural sister who was an adulterous bastard and hence barred from being acknowledged."
Considering these requisites in the order listed, there is no issue as to the first three, i. e.: (1) the deceased natural child, Edna Mudd Anderson, left no descendants; (2) her natural father, Frank Mudd, predeceased her and her natural mother, Agnes Sinclair, survived her, but neither ever formally acknowledged her in accordance with LSA-C.C. Article 203 and hence neither could inherit from her; (3) she left no surviving spouse, her husband, Louis Anderson, having predeceased her. But, the State contends there is a genuine issue of material fact as to requisite (4) listed above, i. e., whether there was ever an informal acknowledgment by the common parents of these natural brothers and sisters. The State also contends, and plaintiff's petition alleges, that the natural father was a white person and the natural mother a person of color, a Negro, and hence a marriage between them was prohibited by LSA-C.C. Article 94; that, therefore, no acknowledgment was possible under LSA-C.C. Article 204 which provides:
"Such acknowledgment shall not be made in favor of children whose parents were incapable of contracting marriage at the time of conception; however, such acknowledgment may be made if the parents should contract a legal marriage with each other."
Based on the pleadings, affidavits and other evidence in the record, the trial judge found there was no genuine issue as to the fact that there was an informal acknowledgment by Agnes Sinclair of her natural children. He recognized there was a. genuine issue as to whether the union between Frank Mudd and Agnes Sinclair was miscegenous but found this issue not material, i. e., that even if the union was miscegenous the parents could acknowledge their children. The case relied on by the district judge was Goins v. Gates, 93 So.2d 307 (1st Cir. La.App.1957, writs refused). This case will be discussed in more detail hereinafter.
We find it unnecessary to discuss the State's contention that there is a genuine issue of fact as to whether these natural children were ever informally acknowledged by their common parent, Agnes Sinclair. We have concluded, as the trial judge did, that there is a genuine issue as to whether Frank Mudd was a white person and Agnes Sinclair a Negro. Unlike the trial judge, we think this issue is also material. We have concluded that if the union was miscegenous, no acknowledgment of the children was possible. We are not bound by the Goins case, rendered by our esteemed brethren of the First Circuit Court of Appeal, but we are bound by LSA-C.C. Article 204 and a long line of jurisprudence from our Supreme Court, holding, in the language of Article 204, that "[sjuch acknowledgment shall not be made in favor of children whose parents were incapable of contracting marriage at the time of conception;".
Typical of the many cases in this line of jurisprudence is Succession of Davis, 126 La. 178, 52 So. 266 (1910). There, a natural child sought to inherit from his mother on the grounds of informal acknowledgment. The facts showed that this child was born in about 1865 of a union between a free white man and a woman of color, a slave. At the time of conception Article 182 of the Civil Code of 1825 prohibited marriage between free persons and slaves and between free white persons and free persons of color. The argument was made that because the Civil Code of 1870 abolished all distinctions between persons on account of race, color or previous conditions of servitude, necessarily Article 204 of the Civil Code of 1870 did not intend to prevent acknowledgment of children whose parents were, because of racial differences, incapable of contracting marriage at the time of conception. The court rejected this argument, holding:
"Article 222 of the Code of 1825, prohibiting the acknowledgment of children produced from an adulterous or incestuous connection, was broadened so as to read:
" 'Art. 204. Such acknowledgment shall not be made in favor of children whose parents were incapable of contracting marriage at the time of the conception.' "Hence, under the plain letter of the Civil Code of 1870, there is only one class of illegitimate children that can be acknowledged, namely, the issue of persons capable of contracting marriage at the time of conception. Such children are properly called 'natural,' a species of the class, 'illegitimate,' and the only kind that can be legitimated."
In Succession of Davis, it was also argued (and this is the basic holding of the Goins case) that Act No. 68 of 1870 (now LSA-R.S. 9:391) allowing natural fathers and mothers to legitimate their children by notarial act, provided there existed at the time of conception no other legal impediment to the marriage except those resulting from color or slavery, was intended to remove the bar against acknowledgment of miscegenous children. The court likewise rejected this argument holding:
"Act No. 68, p. 96, of 1870, providing for the legitimation of natural children by notarial act, was intended to remove the bar of incapacity of color or servitude at the time of conception, provided that the parent make the required declarations before a notary public and two witnesses. Civ.Code, art. 200. Act 210, p. 278, of 1868, is a similar statute as to invalid marriages and the legitimation of the children thereof. Both acts are conditioned on the parents making the requisite declarations in the manner and form prescribed by the statute.
"The mother of the petitioner did not avail herself of the benefit of either validating statute. Hence the law prohibiting the acknowledgment of children whose parents were incapable of contracting marriage at the time of conception is applicable to this case. Civ.Code, art. 204."
Other cases holding, or recognizing, that acknowledgment cannot be made in favor of children whose parents were prohibited from marrying at the time of conception by racial differences, bigamy, incest, etc. are: Turner v. Smith, 12 La.Ann. 417 (1857); Price v. Ray, 14 La.Ann. 697 (1858); Succession of Fletcher, 11 La.Ann. 59 (1856); Prieto v. Succession of Prieto, 165 La. 710, 115 So. 911 (1928); Succession of Gravier, 125 La. 733, 51 So. 704 (1910) ; Delpit, et al. v. Canal Bank & Trust Company, 143 La. 298, 78 So. 565 (1918); Murdock v. Potter, 155 La. 145, 99 So. 18 (1923) ; Jung, et al. v. Doriocourt, et al., 4 La. 175 (1832) ; Succession of Yoist, 132 La. 309, 61 So. 384; Succession of Segura, 134 La. 84, 63 So. 640; Succession of Vance, 110 La. 760, 34 So. 767; Lathan v. Edwards, 121 F.2d 183 (5th Cir. 1941).
Now let us consider Goins v. Gates, supra, on which the Mudd group relies. There, the natural child of a union between an Indian mother and a Negro father sought to inherit from the mother. The child had been informally acknowledged by its mother. The opinion does not expressly state, but it must have been a fact, that the child was conceived after Act 220 of 1920 (now LSA-R.S. 9:201) prohibiting marriage between persons of the Indian race and persons of the colored and black race. Without citing or attempting to distinguish LSA-C.C. Article 204 or the above cited jurisprudence from our Supreme Court, the court stated the law should be more liberal in favor of acknowledgment of illegitimate children. It then held that LSA-R.S. 9:391 (Act 68 of 1870), allowing natural fathers and mothers to legitimate their natural children by notarial act, provided no impediment to their marriage existed except those resulting from color, necessarily included the right to informally acknowledge such children. No case is cited supporting this' holding. Despite the persuasive arguments presented in the Goins case by our brethren from the First Circuit, we feel we are bound by LSA-C.C. Article 204 and the established jurisprudence of our Supreme Court, until that court or the legislature sees fit to change the law.
We are aware that our Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari in the Coins case; and that, generally, such denial signifies approval of the principles stated in the decision of the lower court. Lockwood v. Kennedy, 44 So.2d 176 (2nd Cir. La.App.1950). However, the principles involved here were not squarely set forth in the Goins case. As noted above, LSA-C.C. Article 204, expressly prohibiting acknowledgment of children, whose parents were incapable of marriage at the time of conception, was not mentioned; nor was the long line of jurisprudence applying this statute as written. We do not believe that by the mere denial of the writ, our Supreme Court intended to hold LSA-C.C. Article 204 of no effect; or to overrule the established jurisprudence cited above.
An argument is made that the legislative history of LSA-C.C. Article 204 shows the legislature intended this codal article to apply only to incestuous and adulterous marriages, not to miscegenous unions. Aritcle 26 of the Civil Code of 1808, and Article 222 of the Code of 1825, both prohibited acknowledgment only of "children born from an incestuous or adulterous connexion." These articles were broadened in 1870 by the adoption of LSA-C.C. Article 204 to prohibit acknowledgment of all children "whose parents were incapable of contracting marriage at the time of conception." It is true that from 1870 to 1894 there was no statutory prohibition against miscegenous marriages. But when the legislature adopted Act 54 of 1894 prohibiting marriage between white and colored, and later Act 220 of 1920 prohibiting marriage between Indians and Negroes, how can it be seriously argued the legislature did not know of existing Civil Code Article 204; and did not intend that article to apply to these miscegenous marriages. Article 204 is written in very clear and unambiguous language. It applies to all marriages which the legislature from time to time sees fit to declare unlawful by reason of adultery, bigamy, miscegeny, various degrees of incest, etc. Even in Goins v. Gates, supra, the court recognized this and sought to evade Article 204 on other grounds.
A case cited and relied on by the Mudd group is Murdock v. Potter, 155 La. 145, 99 So. 18 (1923). There the natural child of a white man and a woman of color sought to inherit from the mother. The facts showed that the child was born in 1889, during the period from 1870 to 1894 when there was no prohibition against marriage between white persons and persons of color. The child was also informally acknowledged by the mother before the passage of Act 54 of 1894, which prohibited marriage between white persons and persons of color. The court held that since the child was born at a time when the parents were capable of marriage, he could be and was acknowledged. The court refused to give retroactive effect to Act 54 of 1894 so as to render the acknowledgment invalid. We fail to see how the Mudd group finds comfort in the Mur-dock case. Actually, the holding simply follows the above cited jurisprudence that the test for acknowledgment is whether the parents were capable of marriage at the time of conception.
An additional argument made briefly by the Mudd group on appeal is that our State statutes prohibiting intermarriage between the races and discriminating between the modes of acknowledgment of children conceived at a time when their parents were incapable of contracting marriage, are unconstitutional and in violation of the equal protection clauses of the United States Constitution. Counsel for the Mudd group cites "Irregular Successions in Louisiana", 7 Loyola Law Review 94, at page 107, which discusses this issue and points out that the Supreme Court of the State of California, Perez v. Lippold, 32 Cal.2d 711, 198 P.2d 17 (1948), has held such statutes unconstitutional. However, no case is cited from our own Supreme Court of Louisiana, or from the Supreme Court of the United States, holding such statutes unconstitutional. Under the circumstances, we are constrained to follow the rulings of our own Supreme Court of Louisiana.
For the reasons assigned, the judgment appealed is reversed and set aside. It is now ordered, adjudged and decreed that this case be remanded to the district court for further proceedings in accordance with law and the views expressed herein. All costs in the lower court, as well as the costs of this appeal, will await a final determination of the case.
Reversed and remanded.