Gray v. Bracey

EDMONDS, J. By their appeal from a judgment which followed an order sustaining, without leave to amend, the [427]demurrer to their complaint, John Gray and his wife present for decision the question of the sufficiency of their pleading to state a cause of action.

The complaint consists of a lengthy recital of alleged acts of the defendants and certain public officials which are said to have been done as a result of conspiracies between these persons wrongfully to take the plaintiffs’ property by means of legal proceedings. More specifically, the appellants charge that all of the judgments which have been obtained against them in the protracted litigation which had its genesis in a foreclosure action, were rendered in violation of law. Because of these conspiracies, it is alleged, the Grays have lost the real property which was the subject of the foreclosure action and certain movable cabins and tent platforms which were then on the land.

The Grays declare in their pleading “that the cause of action hereinafter stated is grounded solely on the violation by the State of California” of certain federal rights which are enumerated as those “guaranteed to them by the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, and Laws of Congress made pursuant thereto, especially sections 1977 and 1978 of the revised statutes of the United States.” They ask for the immediate possession of the real property, and for compensatory and exemplary damages.

Before her marriage to Gray, Mrs. Gray owned an interest in certain real property which was subject to a deed of trust. After their marriage, the Grays, by joint declaration, filed a homestead against the property. Later they defaulted on the note, foreclosure proceedings were had and Mr. and Mrs. Bracey purchased the property at the foreclosure sale.

The next suit was brought by the Braceys to secure possession of the property from the Grays. The action was dismissed against Gray after he quitclaimed his interest to the Braceys, and they secured judgment against Mrs. Gray. The judgment was affirmed. (Bracey v. Gray, 49 Cal.App.2d 274 [121 P.2d 770].) When a writ of execution was issued to place the Braeeys in possession of the property, the Grays filed a petition for certiorari and another for a writ of supersedeas and to quash execution. Both of these petitions were denied by the District Court of Appeal.