William A. Porter v. W. Francis Wilson

This appeal presents a troublesome problem concerning full faith and credit (Art. IV, § 1; 28 U.S.C. § 1738 ), and the doctrine of Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 , 58 S.Ct. 817 , 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938).

Plaintiff-appellants William A. Porter and his two sisters, Pearline Porter and Pauline Leonard, doing business as Continental Hotels System, a co-partnership, filed this diversity action in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona to quiet title to the Arizona Hotel, located in Phoenix, Arizona, against an adverse claim asserted by defendant-appellees W. Francis Wilson, Richard A. Wilson, and their wives.

The Wilsons answered, asserting that Mr. Porter’s former wife, Gladys E. Porter, had acquired Mr. Porter’s interest in the property by deed of the Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, issued pursuant to a sheriff’s sale on execution to satisfy a judgment; and that Mrs. Porter had quitclaimed one half of her interest in the property to the defendants on May 4,1960.

Plaintiffs and defendants filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Plaintiffs contended that their right to title was conclusively determined by a judgment finalized by the Supreme Court of…