Balestreiri v. Arques

In this action for declaratory relief, judgment was entered decreeing that defendant Arques had no possessory lien on the vessel “St. Mary” at the time that plaintiff took possession thereof on September 23, 1935. Defendant Arques alone appeals from said judgment and he will be hereinafter referred to as “defendant.”

The parties dwell at length upon the background of this litigation but the essential facts may be briefly stated. The vessel in question was originally a towboat which belonged to one Coughlin and was named the “Oregon.” In 1933, she ran upon a submerged pile in the Oakland…