HECHT RUBBER CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
DANIEL J. MECKLER, D/B/A M & R DISTRIBUTING COMPANY, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1968-04-09
No. J-297
WIGGINTON, Chief Judge, and CARROLL, DONALD K., and SPECTOR, JJ., concur.
208 So. 2d 838 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1968) Positive Treatment
Cited by 3 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Hecht Rubber appeals a Florida judgment enforcing a New York money judgment against it, arguing the New York court lacked jurisdiction and the judgment was procured through fraud. The Florida appellate court affirmed, holding that the New York court validly obtained jurisdiction under New York's constructive service statute and that no fraud tainted the underlying judgment.


Holding

The New York court validly obtained jurisdiction over Hecht Rubber under that state's constructive service statute, the judgment is not tainted by fraud because no perjury or fraud was committed by Meckler, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the untimely supplemental answer motion, especially since the fraud defense was fully tried and rejected on the merits.


Key Quotes

“The New York court having obtained jurisdiction over appellant in that case, and the proceedings being free from the taint of fraud, the judgment rendered therein must be recognized and enforced in the Florida court under the full faith and credit clause of the United States Constitution.”

Establishes the core holding that a judgment from another state must be enforced if jurisdiction was proper and no fraud tainted the proceedings

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Hecht Rubber was a defendant in a New York action brought by Meckler. The New York Supreme Court, Albany County, rendered a money judgment in favor of…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant, who was defendant in the trial court, appeals a judgment against it based upon a money judgment rendered by the Supreme Court of New York, Albany County, in favor of appellee and against appellant. Appellant’s primary contention on appeal is that the judgment rendered by the New York court is void because that court never obtained jurisdiction over appellant, and for the further reason that the judgment is tainted with fraud practiced by appellee upon the court in procuring the judgment ultimately rendered.

In the judgment appealed the trial court, sitting without a jury, specifically found the New York court had validly obtained jurisdiction over appellant under the constructive service statute of that state identified as N.Y.Civ.Prac. L. & R., Section 302(a), par 1. We find sufficient competent evidence in the record to support this finding, and hold that the court did not misconstrue the statute in reaching the conclusion it did.

Appellant also urges that the trial court committed error in refusing to permit it to file a supplemental answer in the late procedural stages of the case in which it sought to interpose the defense of fraud practiced by appellee upon the New York court in procuring the judgment which forms the basis of this action. Considering the untimeliness of appellant’s motion under the circumstances shown by this record, we are unable to agree that the trial court abused its discretion in making the ruling complained of. Even if such was error, it would be harmless in view of the fact that the court permitted appellant during the trial to relitigate in this case all issues which it properly could have litigated in the New York action, and specifically found that the New York action consisted of a bona fide contractual dispute between the parties which was resolved by the New York court and that no perjury was committed, and no fraud, either intrinsic or extrinsic, was practiced by ap-pellee on the New York court. Although appellant was not permitted to file the supplemental answer proffered by it, the defense which it sought to allege was fully tried and resolved against it by the court in this case.

Our review of the evidence convinces us that the trial court was justified *840in concluding' that no perjury was committed by appellee in the litigation of his action in the New York court which resulted in the judgment that forms the basis of this action. The New York court having obtained jurisdiction over appellant in that case, and the proceedings being free from the taint of fraud, the judgment rendered therein must be recognized and enforced in the Florida court under the full faith and credit clause of the United States Constitution.1

We have considered the other points raised by appellant but find them to be without substantial merit. The judgment appealed is accordingly affirmed.

WIGGINTON, Chief Judge, and CARROLL, DONALD K., and SPECTOR, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Hecht Rubber Corp. v. Meckler, 214 So. 2d 622 (Fla. 1968)
    …Certiorari denied without opinion. 208 So. 2d 838.…
  • Lieberman v. Int'l Collection Corp., 588 So. 2d 1090 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)
    …a.1950); Burtchaell v. Hoffman, 508 So. 2d 738 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). See generally Pacific Mills v. Hillman Garment, Inc., 87 So. 2d 599 (Fla.1956) (foreign court’s service requirements comply with due process notions); Hecht Rubber Corp. v. Meckler, 208 So. 2d 838 (Fla. 1st DCA) (record supports finding that foreign court validly obtained jurisdiction over defendant), cert. denied, 214 So. 2d 622 (Fla. 1968).…
  • Venus Labs., Inc. v. Katz, 601 So. 2d 630 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
    …allowing [*632] this proposed counterclaim was therefore entirely harmless. See Aristek Communities, Inc. v. Fuller, 453 So. 2d 547, 548 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Wallace v. Rashkow, 270 So. 2d 743, 745 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972); Hecht Rubber Corp. v. Meckler, 208 So. 2d 838 (Fla. 1st DCA), cert. denied, 214 So. 2d 622 (Fla.1968). Second, we agree with the two points raised on the cross appeal by Katz. By firing Katz as a consultant and refusing to pay any additional compensation to Katz for consulting services, Venus…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw