Opinion ID: 1361063
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: objections to attachment proceedings.

Text: A number of objections are made by counsel for appellants to the attachment and garnishment proceedings in the main action. It is contended that by reason of defects therein no jurisdiction of the money in the hands of the garnishee was obtained. Counsel for plaintiff contends that these matters are not jurisdictional and were waived when the garnishee appeared and answered in the case. The general rule is stated in Rood on Garnishment, Section 270 as follows: The garnishee may make many admissions and waivers without endangering his protection. He may waive payment of the fee allowed him by law, and his appearance and answer without objection will cure all defects in the process which do not go to the jurisdiction of the subject-matter. A number of mistakes which are quite obvious were made in this case, most of them by the officers of the court. However, it is the duty of counsel for the plaintiff who seeks an attachment on property to see that all the various steps required by statute are taken, and not to do so is at his own peril or the peril of his client. It is quite clear in this case, judging by the nature of the mistakes, that counsel for plaintiff did not pay any attention to any of the papers that were made out or were served by the officers of the court. That, of course, is dangerous, particularly in special proceedings, and sometimes may be fatal. We must consider the objections herein made in detail. a. Section 3-5010, Wyo. Comp. St. 1945 states as follows: When the plaintiff, his agent or attorney, makes oath, in writing, that he has good reason to believe and does believe that any person or corporation in the affidavit named, is indebted to the defendant, or has property of the defendant in his possession, describing the same, if the officer cannot get possession of such property, or obtain the money due on account of such indebtedness, he shall leave with such garnishee a copy of the order of attachment, and a written notice that he appear in court and answer as provided in section twenty-eight hundred and ninety-five (§ 3-5027), and if the garnishee does not reside in the county in which the order of attachment was issued, the process may be served by the proper officer of the county in which the garnishee resides, or may be personally served. No affidavit such as mentioned in this section was filed. Counsel for appellant claims that this was fatal. They do not refer us to any case in point. The section above quoted must be construed in connection with Section 3-5004. It reads as follows: The order of attachment shall be directed and delivered to the sheriff, and shall require him to attach the lands, tenements, goods, chattels, stocks or interests in stocks, rights, credits, money and effects of the defendant in his county, not exempt by law from being applied to the payment of plaintiff's claim, or so much thereof as will satisfy the plaintiff's claim, to be stated in the order as in the affidavit, and the probable costs of the action. It may be noticed that under this section the sheriff is directed by the writ to attach credits and money. That would seem to indicate that it is not mandatory upon anyone to file an affidavit such as is mentioned in the first section above set out, and that it is intended merely to supplement the information of the sheriff. In 38 C.J.S. 366 it is stated that after the filing of a proper affidavit and the execution of a bond, the writ or summons in garnishment ordinarily issues as a matter of course; that under some statutes garnishment process may be issued by the attorney of a party, or notice to the garnishee may be given by a sheriff holding a writ of attachment or execution; that the issuance of a garnishment notice is ministerial rather than a judicial duty. It would seem, considering all these matters together, that the affidavit mentioned in Section 3-5010 is not jurisdictional, but may be waived by the garnishee when he appears and answers in response to the notice of garnishment served upon him. b. The writ of attachment was issued at the time of the commencement of the action herein. Such writ of attachment is jurisdictional to obtain jurisdiction of the subject matter. 7 C.J.S. 376. The writ of attachment in this case was duly issued but it was made returnable on the same day on which it was issued. The question is whether that is fatal. The question of defects in respect to the return day of summons is discussed in 42 Am. Juris. 15 where it is said: No general rule can be laid down as to the effect of defects or informalities, with regard to the appearance or return day, in a summons or notice of the commencement of an action in a court of record, because some defects are held to render the summons absolutely void and to invalidate all subsequent proceedings in the action, while other defects are held to be simply irregular and subject to amendment, and because the same defect is held in some jurisdictions to be fatal and in others curable. It may be said, however, that in the majority of the cases considering the fact that the return day of process is mistaken or defectively stated, the rule seems to be that it does not render the process void, but only voidable. See also Note, 97 A.L.R. 748. If a summons is made returnable on the same day on which it is issued and the defendant does not move to quash the service, but appears generally in the action, he thereby waives any defect in the summons. We think that the same rule should be applied in the case at bar. The garnishee appeared and answered in the case, and made no motion to quash the service on it. We think it waived the defect in the writ of attachment. c. The notice of garnishment served on the garnishee in this case was not signed by the sheriff. In 6 C.J. 188 it is said, speaking of the writ of attachment: The writ should be signed by the officer by whom it is issued, whether this act is performed by a judge or the clerk of court, although a defect in this respect does not render the writ void, but may be waived or cured by amendment. In 7 C.J.S. 384 the statement is added: although other authority regards an unsigned writ as void and not properly the subject of amendment. Only one case is cited on this addition. We intimated in the case of Deschenes vs. Beall et al., 61 Wyo. 39, 53, 154 P.2d 524 that the majority rule is the correct rule. We have not found any direct authority on the question of signing the notice of garnishment. We think, however, that the rule above mentioned is applicable in connection with such notice. In fact, Section 3-5010 does not specifically provide that the notice of garnishment must be signed by anyone and that seems to be true under other statutes. See 38 C.J.S. 372, Note 42. The lack of signature therefor on the part of the sheriff, cannot be regarded as jurisdictional and if required at all, must be held to have been waived when the garnishee appeared in this case and answered. d. The writ of attachment issued in the main case recites that: whereas L.C. Jones Trucking Company, an Oklahoma corporation    has complained, etc. The petition alleges that the plaintiff is a Delaware Corporation engaged in interstate commerce, with headquarters at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The notice of garnishment makes no mention of the abode of the corporation. In a sense, at least, the statement in the writ of attachment states the truth. It is quite clear that the error was merely a clerical error, and not jurisdictional. The record as a whole shows the facts correctly.