Shoso Nii v. Brownell

This is an appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.

The question presented is whether the findings of the trial court are supported by the evidence.

Shoso Nii, hereafter the son, brought this suit under Section 9(a) of the Trading with the Enemy Act, 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 9(a), to recover two parcels of real property located in the City and County of Honolulu, Territory of Plawaii. These parcels were vested, pursuant to that Act by the Attorney General of the United States, as successor to the Alien Property Custodian, upon a finding that they were the property of Kaneichi Nii, father of Shoso Nii, hereafter the father, and a citizen and resident of Japan.

Claiming to be the owner of the vested property, appellant filed with the Attorney General a Notice of Claim, alleging a gift from his father in May, 1935, orally made. The Attorney General filed a counter-claim under § 17 of the Act seeking payment of all rents collected by the son from the vested property.

The district court, after trial, concluded that the son had no interest in the vested property, dismissed the complaint and granted the Attorney General’s counterclaim. In…