From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Hood v. Cruso

Supreme Court of Mississippi, Division B
May 24, 1937
179 Miss. 234 (Miss. 1937)

Opinion

No. 32661.

May 24, 1937. ON SUGGESTION OF ERROR.

1. QUO WARRANTO.

When a private litigant brings quo warranto, acting independently and not on relation of the state, burden is on him to show right to office by a preponderance of the evidence, which must be clear and dependable since presumption of right rests with occupant of office.

2. APPEAL AND ERROR.

In quo warranto proceeding involving contest over school trustee position, suggestion of error was overruled where minutes of city board relating to school trustees and terms for past 20 years were in such state of confusion that Supreme Court was unable to say with confidence that conclusions of trial court were incorrect.

APPEAL from the circuit court of Harrison county. HON.W.A. WHITE, Judge.

Buntin McIntosh, of Gulfport, for appellant.

Ford Ford, of Pascagoula, for appellee.


This is a proceeding in quo warranto prosecuted by the appellant personally, and involves a contest over the position of school trustee in the City of Biloxi. When a private litigant brings quo warranto, acting independently and not on the relation of the state, the burden of proof is upon him to show his right to the office by a preponderance of the evidence; and the nature of the evidence must be clear and dependable, since in such case the presumption of right rests with the occupant of the office. We affirmed the judgment on the former submission without a written opinion, and now write only to say that a thorough re-examination of the record shows that the minutes of the city board in regard to school trustees and their terms going back for twenty years are in such a state of uncertainty, not to say confusion, that we are unable to say with confidence that the conclusions of the trial judge were incorrect.

Suggestion of error overruled.


Summaries of

Hood v. Cruso

Supreme Court of Mississippi, Division B
May 24, 1937
179 Miss. 234 (Miss. 1937)
Case details for

Hood v. Cruso

Case Details

Full title:HOOD v. CRUSO

Court:Supreme Court of Mississippi, Division B

Date published: May 24, 1937

Citations

179 Miss. 234 (Miss. 1937)
174 So. 552

Citing Cases

O'Neal v. Fairley

Quo warranto is the proper and only method by which a claimant to office can have his claim adjudicated,…

Anderson v. Laurel Oil Fert. Co.

I. The Court erred in allowing testimony to be introduced by the plaintiff as to the first 110 items of the…