Andrews v. Young

THOMPSON, J.

—The plaintiff has appealed from a judgment rendered pursuant to an order sustaining separate demurrers to the complaint for an alleged conspiracy to commit a tort. The plaintiff asked leave to file an amended complaint, which was denied. The proposed pleading is included in the transcript on appeal. It is contended the proposed amended complaint states a good cause of action, and that the court abused its discretion in not permitting it to be filed.

Both the complaint and the proposed amended pleading purport to charge the judge of the police court of Stockton and other officers of the court, including the probation officer and his attorney, with a conspiracy to procure the arrest and conviction of the plaintiff for the offense of contributing to the delinquency of a minor • child so as to force him to leave San Joaquin County and thus deprive him of the care and paternal affection of his children and to injure his character and reputation to his damage in the sum of half a million dollars. The proposed amended complaint merely elaborates the allegations of the original pleading with greater details. It recites that the plaintiff is the father of two children; that the defendant Breitenbucher is the judge of the police court of Stockton; that W. B. Young is the probation officer of San Joaquin County, and that L. J. Small-page was the attorney for the probation officer, and that they conspired with.other defendants on June 7, 1935, for the purpose of “ousting said plaintiff . . . from the . . . County of San Joaquin”, and to thus deprive him of the care and companionship of his children and to injure his reputation, by procuring a criminal charge to be filed and prosecuted against the plaintiff; that pursuant to the conspiracy W. B. Young “without probable or any cause” did swear to a complaint on the last-mentioned date and file it in the said police court of Stockton, charging the plaintiff with specified acts with a named minor female child of the age of fourteen years, which tended to contribute to her delinquency; that the defendants by means of false and fraudulent misrepresentations persuaded plaintiff that “if he would plead guilty to being ‘indiscreet’, the Judge would not give him any sentence”; that the plaintiff did so plead

[525]

guilty of being “indiscreet” and was thereupon sentenced to 180 days in the county jail, with the alternative that the jail sentence would be suspended on condition that the plaintiff leave .San Joaquin County for a period of two years; that on account of said conspiracy the plaintiff is deprived of the companionship and affection of his children, his reputation was injured and that he suffered humiliation and mental anguish to his detriment in the sum of $500,000. Separate demurrers to the original complaint were filed on the grounds of uncertainty and for failure to state facts constituting a cause of action. These demurrers were sustained without leave to amend the pleading. The plaintiff asked permission to file an amended complaint, the material allegations of which are above recited. That motion was denied. Judgment of dismissal was thereupon rendered against the plaintiff.