City of Santa Clara v. County of Santa Clara

Opinion

ELKINGTON, J.

Plaintiff City of Santa Clara appeals from a summary judgment establishing no liability on the part of the defendant County of Santa Clara for accepting and keeping on deposit in its treasury certain condemnation funds, thereby depriving the city of interest on such funds

[495]

which would have been earned had the funds been deposited in the state treasury.

The following undisputed facts were established at the summary judgment proceedings. On March 6, 1964, the City of Santa Clara sought immediate possession of three parcels of land then undergoing condemnation proceedings in the superior court. On the city’s applications, under Code of Civil Procedure section 1254, the court fixed the deposits required by that section at a total of $54,500. The orders were identical in form, each stating: “Now, therefore, it is ordered that plaintiff deposit in Court with the Clerk of said Court the sums hereinabove set forth, and upon said deposit made, plaintiff shall be entitled to an order of immediate possession of said property.” They contained no directions to the clerk- concerning a depository for the money. The money was forthwith delivered by the city to the clerk who deposited it in the county treasury. There the money remained until June 20, 1967, when it was returned, without interest, to the city.

Code of Civil Procedure section 1254, subdivision (h), states, as relevant here: “The court shall order the money to be deposited in the State Treasury, unless the plaintiff requests the court to order deposit in the county treasury, in which case the court shall order deposit in the county treasury. . . .” Subdivision (j) of section 1254 provides: “Interest earned and other increment derived from . . . deposits made pursuant to this section, after deposit of money in the State Treasury” shall be apportioned and paid

pro tanto

to the condemning authorities owning such deposits.

In the action below the County of Santa Clara was the only defendant; the- case having been severed as to all fictitious defendants by the pretrial' order. The plaintiff city contended that it had suffered a loss of $7,917.59 interest as a result of the failure of the county to deposit the subject funds in the state treasury. No theory was raised in the pleadings, pretrial order, or otherwise, that the county was unjustly enriched from the deposit of the funds in its treasury; the county had alleged that no interest was in fact earned thereon. It will be seen that no triable issue of fact was presented, only a question of law. The theory of the city was that the county, acting through its employees, the county clerk and county treasurer, was responsible for the interest loss.