United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Greenameyer v. Coate, 212 U.S. 434 (1909)

Greenameyer v. Coate

No. 100

Submitted January 4, 1909

Decided February 23, 1909

212 U.S. 434

APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT

OF THE TERRITORY OF OKLAHOMA

Syllabus

When the Secretary of the Interior has jurisdiction of a land contest and grants a rehearing, he is not, nor is this Court, bound by the facts found by his predecessor on the original hearing, Potter v. Hall, 189 U. S. 292; after such a rehearing and when, as in this case, new testimony is allowed, the decision then made is the ultimate action of the Department.

Page 212 U. S. 435

The holder of a patent obtained by error of law of, or fraud or imposition on, the Land Department may be declared to hold the same as trustee for another, but the fraud must have been so practiced as to have prevented the unsuccessful party from fully exhibiting his case, and if the case has been fully considered, the decision of the proper officer is in the nature of a judicial determination. Vance v. Burbank, 101 U. S. 514.