Rousseau v. O'Gara

DOOLING, Acting P. J.

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of defendants entered after an order sustaining a demurrer without leave to amend to plaintiff’s first amended complaint.

Appellant appears in propria persona. Respondents are attorneys who represented certain parties adverse to appellant in a prior action. A review of that action is necessary to an understanding of the present appeal.

In April of 1950 appellant commenced an action in the superior court in which she sought to quiet title to certain real property. This property was the principal estate of one Josephine B. McConnon, the grandmother of appellant, who died in 1949 at the age of 86. Appellant claimed the property by virtue of a purported deed from her grandmother dated January 5, 1931, and recorded February 5, 1931. The trial court found that the deed through which appellant claims, although recorded, had not been executed or signed

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by Mrs. MeConnon, and that Mrs. McConnon had not delivered it to appellant or to anyone else for her. On appeal it was held that the findings of nonexecution and nondelivery of the deed were amply supported by substantial and credible evidence.

(Rousseau

v.

Hurtado,

122 Cal.App.2d 705 [265 P.2d 580].) These findings were filed February 11, 1952. The judgment for defendants in that action was affirmed.

While the amended complaint is in two counts the gist of the attempted statement of a cause of action is found in count one and these allegations of that count are incorporated into count two by reference. Stripped of allegations of conclusions of law and repetitious matter the appellant stands on the following allegations:

“Defendants herein knew that there was conclusive evidence of the proper execution and proper acknowledgement of a deed in fee simple absolute to Ann Rousseau, grantee, which occurred in the offices of T.obin and Tobin, San Francisco, California, on the 5th day of February, 1931. Defendants knew through the conclusive evidence that the said deed had been recorded the same day of its proper execution and proper acknowledgement; and that the notary public who acknowledged the proper execution had as her business address the law firm of Tobin and Tobin during the entire year of 1931. This conclusive evidence was entirely omitted from the ‘findings of fact’ and ‘conclusions of law’ and defendants herein allowed, cooperated, and have willfully and aggressively attempted to divest Plaintiff herein of her property through fraud.”