Grant Bros. Construction Co. v. United States

Headnotes

1. Civil Procedure — Waiver Errors alleged to have been committed by a trial court that do not involve anything fundamental or jurisdictional must be regarded as waived if they were not presented to the Supreme Court of the Territory on appeal. 232 U.S. 647 (opinion, waiver discussion citing Montana Railway Co. v. Warren, 137 U.S. 348, 351)
2. Immigration — Alien Contract Labor Act — Nature of Penalty Action An action by the United States to recover penalties under the Alien Contract Labor Act is civil in nature and is attended with the usual incidents of a civil action. 232 U.S. 647 (citing United States v. Regan, ante, p. 37)
3. Civil Procedure — Amendment to Conform to Proof — Prejudice Where an action for statutory penalties was tried on the theory that the defendant was liable only for violations knowingly committed, and the jury returned a verdict against the defendant after being charged that knowledge was an essential element of the cause of action, the petition, even if it omitted an allegation of knowledge, may be regarded as amended to conform to the facts, the defendant not being prejudiced thereby, since it is most unreasonable to reverse a judgment for a pleading defect by which the defendant was in no way prejudiced. 232 U.S. 647 (citing Ariz. Rev. Stat. 1901, §§ 1288, 1293; Reynolds v. Stockton, 140 U.S. 254, 266)
4. Civil Procedure — Depositions — Defective Notice A trial court properly refuses to suppress depositions where the notices regarding their taking were defective in certain respects that could not and did not mislead the parties. 232 U.S. 647 (citing Ariz. Rev. Stat. 1901, §§ 2507, 2513)
5. Evidence — Judgments — Admissibility Against Strangers Although as a general rule a judgment binds only the parties and their privies, a judgment in a prior action may be admissible against a stranger as prima facie, though not conclusive, proof of facts that may be shown by evidence of general reputation, such as alienage. 232 U.S. 647 (citing 1 Starkie Ev. 386; 1 Greenleaf Ev., §§ 139, 526, 555; Patterson v. Gaines, 6 How. 550, 599)
6. Evidence — Administrative Findings — Alienage In a suit by the United States to recover penalties for violations of the Alien Contract Labor Act, the decision of a board of special inquiry that certain persons were aliens is properly admitted as prima facie evidence of the alienage of the persons before the board. 232 U.S. 647
7. Evidence — Agency — Proof of Agency The acts and declarations of a professed agent are not admissible to prove the existence or extent of the agency; the agency must be established by other evidence. 232 U.S. 647 (citing United States v. Boyd, 5 How. 29, 50)
8. Immigration — Alien Contract Labor Act — Instructions to Agent — Jury Question Where the evidence showed that the defendant instructed its agent not to violate the Alien Contract Labor Act, but there was proof of the agency apart from the agent's own acts and testimony sufficient to support a finding that the instructions were not given in good faith or were abrogated by acquiescence in their non-observance, the question whether the instructions were given in good faith is properly one for the jury. 232 U.S. 647
9. Immigration — Alien Contract Labor Act — Separate Penalty Per Alien Under the Alien Contract Labor Act a separate penalty shall be assessed in respect of each alien whose migration or importation is knowingly assisted, encouraged, or solicited in contravention of the statute, notwithstanding that all the aliens for whose employment penalties are sought were brought into the United States at one time. 232 U.S. 647 (citing Missouri, Kansas & Texas Ry. Co. v. United States, 231 U.S. 112)
10. Civil Procedure — Recovery by the United States In an action by the United States to recover penalties under the Alien Contract Labor Act, a judgment against the defendant for costs is proper. 232 U.S. 647 (citing Ariz. Rev. Stat. 1901, §§ 1543, 2639; Kittredge v. Race, 92 U.S. 116, 121; United States v. Verdier, 164 U.S. 213, 219)