Simpson v. Dufour
Simpson v. Dufour
Opinion of the Court
— This case is here for the second time, and is reported in 95 Ind. 302. The material facts, as disclosed by the complaint, are set out in the complaint as copied in the above report, and need not be repeated here. Upon a return of the cause to the Switzerland Circuit Court a substituted complaint was filed, and the appellant, as the then sheriff of the county, was substituted for Anderson, as plaintiff.
The appellee Dufour filed an answer consisting of nine paragraphs, to all of which the court sustained a demurrer, except the first and eighth. The eighth paragraph avers, substantially, that there was in force in the State of Kentucky a general statute, by the terms of which all persons who were the owners of warehouses in which were stored whiskey, tobacco, etc., were denominated warehousemen; that such warehousemen were permitted to issue warehouse receipts for goods on hand and stored in such warehouses; that
The statute of the State of Kentucky is set out in this answer.
After issues formed .the cause was tried by a jury, resulting in a verdict for the appellees, upon which the court rendered judgment.
The first assignment of error calls in question the correctness of the ruling of the circuit court in overruling the demurrer to the above answer.
It is contended by the appellant that it is no defence for Dufour to show that the property sought to be attached was not the property of Darling, against whom the writ of attachment was issued, and that it was the duty of Dufour to have permitted the sheriff to seize the property and leave the court to determine the_ question of ownership.
We are not inclined to adopt this view. The sheriff had no right to seize the property of Schwill on a, writ of attachment against Darling. Had he done so he would have been a trespasser. It is true that in refusing to permit the levy, Dufour took the risk of rendering himself liable in the event it should be established that Darling owned the property, for then the sheriff would have been acting rightfully under his writ; but if the property was, in fact, Schwill’s property, the sheriff can not be heard to complain that the appellee prevented him from committing a trespass.
The appellee was a common carrier, and an insurer of the property in controversy, and it was his duty to hold it until such time as it reached its destination unless taken from his possession lawfully. Sherlock v. Alling, 44 Ind. 184; Pittsburgh, etc., R. W. Co. v. Hollowell, 65 Ind. 188; Pennsylvania Co. v. Poor, 103 Ind. 553; McCulloch v. McDonald, 91 Ind. 240.
If it was the property of Schwill it could not be lawfully taken from his possession by virtue of a writ of attachment
It is also urged by the appellant that the court erred in overruling his motion for a new trial. ■
It is claimed that the court erred in its instructions to the
jury-
The instructions are quite voluminous, and no good purpose would be subsex-ved by setting them out here.
We have given them a careful examination, and, when taken as whole, we think they state the law, substantially, as applicable to the case as made by the evidence.
With the general verdict the jury returned answers to special interrogatories, by which it is made to appear that the facts are as set out in the eighth paragraph of the answer. The case seems to have been correctly decided on its merits.
There is no substantial error in the record.
Judgment affirmed.
Berkshire, J., took no part in the decision of this cause.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Simpson, Sheriff v. Dufour
- Status
- Published