Merritt v. Hutchings
Merritt v. Hutchings
Opinion of the Court
We are of the opinion that the court should have sustained the grounds of demurrer quoted in the statement of facts. These demurrers raised the question of res adjudicata and estoppel by judgment. The judgment in the ejectment suit in Bibb superior court was an adjudication against the plaintiff and in favor of the defendant in the present case, and it settled the question of title, which can not be again raised between these two parties. It is true that when the case in Bibb superior court came on for trial the plaintiff filed an amendment converting the suit into an equitable proceeding against the defendant; and it. was then held in reference to this amendment that “A plaintiff in ejectment can not engraft upon the original petition an amendment in the nature of a petition in equity, praying for a judgment declaring a deed from himself to the defendant, absolute in form, to be a security for debt only, and for an equitable accounting between the parties, etc., without alleging that the defendant is a resident of the county in which the suit is pending or a non-resident of the State;” and upon application of the principle stated in this quotation it was held that the judge did not err in striking the amendment to the petition; and the court further held that it was not erroneous to reject evidence offered to sustain the amendment after it had been stricken. When this amendment was stricken the plaintiff might have dismissed his suit, knowing that it was necessary to show that a deed upon which the plaintiff relied and which was absolute in form was only a deed to secure a debt. The plaintiff, however, did not dismiss the suit in Bibb superior court, but the case proceeded to trial, and the defendant showed an absolute deed to the land from the plaintiff to himself; and upon the conclusion of the introduction of evidence the judge directed a verdict for the
Judgment reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.