Boone v. Lightner

The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940, 50 U.S.C.A. Appendix, § 501 et seq. (the act) provided that civil legal actions brought against military service personnel could be stayed upon request of the defendant, unless the presiding court determined that the ability of the defendant to defend himself was not materially affected by reason of his military service. Boone (plaintiff) was a captain in the United States Army who was summoned into state court in North Carolina to account for his alleged misconduct as the trustee of a trust fund held for his daughter, in an action undertaken to preserve the trust. Boone was also a lawyer. Boone undertook legal maneuvers to deny the jurisdiction of the court, including claiming to have changed his legal residence from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., on the day the summons was issued. Boone also requested a continuance of the trial until after his service in the army was completed under the act. The court refused to grant the continuance, finding that Boone’s military service did not prevent him from mounting his defense and also that Boone had deliberately and willfully tried to evade a judicial determination of the matter. The trial proceeded without Boone present, and the jury held against Boone, finding that he was guilty of serious misconduct of the trust fund and personally liable for a loss from the fund of more than $11,000 and removing his as trustee. Boone appealed to the North Carolina Supreme Court, which affirmed the decision on the merits and also affirmed the denial of the continuance. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.