Gertrude Stone v. Everett H. Briggs

By writ dated Oct. 11, 1941, the plaintiff brought her action in contract in Addison Municipal Court against the defendant to recover on a judgment rendered by that court on April 9, 1940, against the defendant in favor of the plaintiff. The affidavit required by P. L. 2171 having been made and filed the writ issued against and was served upon the body of the defendant as a claimed absconding debtor. Upon service of the writ A. E. Briggs and Ruth Briggs became surety for the defendant by endorsing their names on the writ as bail in accordance with the provision of P. L. 2147. On Oct. 24, 1941, the parties entered into and filed with the court a stipulation which provided for payment by the defendant to the plaintiff of the sum therein named in semi-monthly installments. The stipulation then continued: ""In case of default in making any payment, the creditor shall be entitled to judgment for such portion of said sum as has not been paid, with any costs not included in the above sum; and at the time of entry of such judgment the creditor shall be entitled to a certified execution."" Thereafter, on Dec. 5, 1941, the plaintiff moved for judgment on the stipulation on the ground that the defendant was in default in making the stipulated payments. Hearing on that motion was set for Dec. 10, 1941, and on that date the defendant filed a motion in which it was recited that the defendant had been adJudged a bankrupt on Nov. 28, 1941, by the United States Dis-trict Court for the District of Connecticut, and that the debt upon which the plaintiff was seeking judgment was dischargeable in bankruptcy and had been listed in the defendant's schedules. Wherefore the defendant prayed that further proceedings in the pending action be stayed until the bankruptcy court should determine the question of the defendant's discharge in the pending bankruptcy proceedings. It was conceded by counsel for both parties that the defendant was in default in his payments under the stipulation and that he had been adjudicated a bankrupt but had not been discharged in bankruptcy. Defendant's motion for a stay was granted, an exception allowed, and the cause passed to this Court before final judgment under the provisions of P. L. 2072 and P. L. 1431. We do not consider the propriety of this procedure as no question is raised in regard thereto.