Ahrenfeldt v. Miller/Opinion of the Court

Ahrenfeldt, the appellant, filed a petition in the District Court in the case of Garvan v. Commercial Trust Co., 282 Fed. 943 (in this Court, Commercial Trust Co. v. Miller, etc. [No. 575] 262 U.S. 51, 43 Sup. Ct. 486, 67 L. Ed. --), for leave to intervene, alleging that 'he was an American citizen residing abroad since January 1, 1914, in France, England and Switzerland, having no residence in any judicial district of the United States during that time.'

He further alleged that 'he was the admitted separate owner of an identified portion of the securities and cash deposited with the Commercial Trus Company as mentioned in cases Nos. 575 (262 U.S. 51, 43 Sup. Ct. 486, 67 L. Ed. --) and 292 (U.S. Trust Co. v. Miller, 262 U.S. 58, 43 Sup. Ct. 489, 67 L. Ed. --),' and that his 'petition for leave to intervene related solely to his own separate property.'

The District Court denied his petition and its order was affirmed by the Circuit Court of Appeals. 282 Fed. 944. The grounds of affirmance, the Court, through Circuit Judge Woolley, expressed as follows:

'At the hearing in Garvan, as Alien Property Custodian, v. Commercial Trust Co. of New Jersey, 275 Fed. 841, the appellant, Charles J. Ahrenfeldt, presented a petition for leave to intervene and have determined by the District Court his claim to ownership of a part of the property in process of seizure. The District Court denied the petition, holding that the question sought to be litigated by Ahrenfeldt can be raised only after the demand of the Alien Property Custodian has been complied with, and then only by proceedings authorized by Section 9 of the Act, as amended June 5, 1920 (41 Stat. 977). 282 Fed. 943. That the District Court was right is established by the decisions of the Supreme Court in Central Union Trust Co. v. Garvan, 254 U.S. 554, 41 Sup. Ct. 214, 65 L. Ed. 403, and Stoehr v. Wallace, 255 U.S. 239, 41 Sup. Ct. 293, 65 L. Ed. 604.

'The order is affirmed.'

It is manifest that the case is identical in legal principle, and to a certain and material extent in contentions, with cases Nos. 575 and 292, and is necessarily involved in their ruling.

The decree of the Circuit Court of Appeals affirming the decree of the District Court is

Affirmed.