Roller v. Custar
Roller v. Custar
Opinion of the Court
Scire-facias on a justice’s transcript for execution against real estate. The writ alleges that the plaintiff, on, &o., recovered a judgment against the defendant for, &c.', before John Benson, “an acting justice of the peace;” that an execution had issped upon the judgment, and been returned “no property;” that a transcript of these proceedings was certified by the justice, filed in the office of the clerk of the Wayne Circuit Court, and recorded in that Court. The defendant in the first instance filed two pleas, 1, That he had nor
The demurrer to the first plea was correctly sustained. The j>lea of no real property in the defendant at any time previous to filing the plea, is no bar to the action, because one of the remedies intended to be given by the statute on which it is founded is, as we conceive, an execution against the real estate of the defendant acquired at a subsequent period.
There was no error in overruling the demurrer to the repli
We think the Court erred' in sustaining the replication in relation to the third and fourth pleas. Those pleas have reference to the justice’s judgment named in the scire facias, and deny its existence at certain periods. The replication relates to the transcript, and only avers that the justice, by leave of the Court, amended that by inserting after the statement of the verdict a formal judgment. The replication is, therefore, no answer to the pleas. It does not meet the denials contained in them. If there was no judgment at the time the execution mentioned in the scire facias issued, or *when the scire facias itself was sued out, the plaintiff can not maintain this action. If the plaintiff designed to aver in the replication that the judgment, as well as the transcript of it, was amended, he has not accomplished his object. We think it was competent for the justice, during the pendency of the scire facias, to amend his docket by entering, nunc pro twnc, a formal judgment on the verdict of the jury for damages and costs, which he had already treated as a judgment by issuing an execution upon it. Had the replication averred such an amendment, as well as that of the transcript, it would have been sufficient. Or, the justice having amended the entry on his docket, the replication might have been general, that there was such a judgment.
The Circuit Court also erred in rendering a judgment for the plaintiff over the second' plea, which is an absolute denial of the existence of the judgment alleged in the scire facias. This plea constitutes a good bar, and it stands unanswered.
It is contended that the scire facias is defective for not averring that the justice who certified the transcript was a justice of Wayne county. We do not think this objection can prevail. There is an allegation that he was an acting justice of tlm peace, and that the transcript of his proceedings was filed
Per Curiam.—The judgment is reversed w'ith costs. Cause remanded, &c.
But see R. S., 1843, p. 943, sect. 98.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.