Wickliffe v. Sanders
Wickliffe v. Sanders
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
This writ of error was sued out in the name of Mary O. Russell, before she was married to Wickliffe, to reverse a judgment recovered against her in an action of trespass, on the case brought in the circuit court by Sanders.
The declaration is as follows:
Fayette county Set.
Samuel Sanders, by his attorney, complaims of Mary O. Russell, in custody &c. of a plea of trespass on the case, for that, whereas the said defendant, on the - day of -, at the circuit aforesaid, caused her certain writ of execution, commonly called & fieri facias, to be issued from the office of the Fayette circuit court, directed to the sheriff of Fayette, by which he was commanded, that of the estate of Lewis Sanders, he should cause to be made the sum of $- with interest at the rate of six per centum per annum from the - day of -, until paid, and also her cost expended in the prosecution of her suit, and whereas, afterwards, towit, on the day of -, at the circuit aforesaid, the said defendant, caused her said execution to be delivered to George W. Morton, deputy sheriff for—sheriff of Fayette county, and caused the same to be levied upon divers goods and chattels of the said plaintiff, then and there being, towit, fifty milch cows and calves, being of great value, towit, of the value of $5000; fifty bullocks of great value, towit, of the value of $5000; fifty heifers and steers, of the value of $5000; fifty head of horses, of the value of $5000; divers pieces of household and kitchen furniture, consisting of beds, carpets, chairs, tables, table cloths, china ware, pots, kettles, &c. then and there being, of the value of $2000; also farming utensils, to-wif, ploughs, harrows &c. of the value of $1000, and thereupon, afterwards, towit, on the day of—, at the cir-
Not guilty, was pleaded by the then Mrs. Russell; and on,the trial of that issue, three hundred dollars damages were found against her by the jury, for which sum, the judgment, to reverse which this writ of error is prosecuted, was rendered in favor of Sanders.
After the jury had found théir verdict} á motion was made on the part of the defendant, Mrs. Russell, in the circuit court, to arrest the judgment; but the motion was overruled, and it is now assigned for error, that the court erred in not arresting the judgment.
The ground relied on in that court, to arrest the judgment, is, that the action was misconceived. It was contended, that to recover for the injury charged in the declaration, trespass, and not case, is the proper action; and that by adopting the latter aqtion, Sanders was not entitled to a judgment in his favor, for the damages assessed by the jury*-
Whether we advert to those general rules, by which the action of trespass and case are characterized and distinguished, or t©''adjudged cases, it will he found, that to recover damages for the taking of the goods and chattels of Sanders, as charged in the declaration, an action of trespass is the appropriate action, and that case cannot be maintained. By the act of taking the goods, force is not only necessarily implied, but an immediate injury was thereby done-to Sanders, and it is a general rule, that for immediate injuries, committed with force, whether the force be actual or constructive, trespass is the proper action. Hence it has been held, that tresr pass should be brought to recover for injuries committed by th.e misapplication of the procees of a
R is undoubtedly "true, in the general, that whenever trespass will lie for the taking of goods of the plaintiff wrongfully, trover may also be maintained; but when this is conceded, and were we also to con-ce(*e tíiaí ^ie case Sanders comes within the general rule, which allows either trespass or trover, to be maintained for the taking of the goods, charged in the declaration, still there is an objection to the verdict and judgment not to be gottéh over.
The verdict being general, must be understood to include damages for the act of taking, charged in the declaration; so that if the verdict and judgment *s permitted to stand, Sanders recovers damages for an act, for which, according to the settled doctrines 0f the law, no damages are recoverable, in an action
It might be otherwise, if the objections to which we have, adverted, were obviated by any of the various statutes of jeofails. But none of those statutes have ever been held, nor do we think that any of them should be held, to cure an error in bringing case, where trespass is the proper action, or an error in the jury, giving damages in an action on the case, for an act for which no damages are recoverable in such an action.
The judgment must therefore be reversed, with cost, the cause remanded to the court below, with permission for Sanders to amend his declaration,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.