Wallace v. Hanley
Wallace v. Hanley
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Hanley filed his bill in the Jessamine-circuit court, stating that Lewis and himself became bound in a replevin bond as sureties for Clark to Shrieve for the payment of $1917 48 cents, that Clark becoming insolvent, shortly before the bond became due, Lewis, in order to evade the payment of a just proportion of the debt, fraudulently attempted to remove himself with bis property from the commonwealth,' that
Lewis, the two Walkers and Wallace, all of whom were made defendants, answere 1, deriving the imputed fraud and insisting that Lewis was honestly indebted to Wilham vValker and to Wallace, the amounts respectively, for which j rdgments were confessed. Lewis admits that he and Manly were hound for Clark, as charged, and that Clark was insolvent; but he denies that tie was removing his property, as alleged, for fraudulent purposes; on the contrary, he insists, that he had slaves, other tnan those attached, and lands of considerable value, of which the complainant was apprised at the time of filing his bill.
On hearing, the court decreed that William Walker and Wallace, should be perpetually restrained and in-joined from all further proceedings under their respective judgments at law, against the slaves in the bill mentioned, but that they might proceed against any other estate owned by Lewis; To reverse this decree, Lewis, &c. have appealed.
The decree cannot be sustained. The bill refers to the proceedings in the Mercer circuit court, under which the slaves were held, but they have not been
If the proceedings in Mercer have not been terminated, if the slaves attached were in the custody of ihé law in that county, then executions from Jessamine, could r.ot aflect any lien, which might have previously attached, in virtue of those proceedings. As the executions from Jessamine were directed to the sheriff of Mercer, in whose custody the slaves were, he would certainly know whether it was his duty to hold them subject to the attachment, or any other lien, prior to the executions. The sheriff would be responsible for a violation of his duly. But surely, Hanly had not the shadow of aright, after the half of the replevin bond had been paid, to insist that the slaves should still be exempt from the executions of Walker and Wallace. Now, it may be, that the. slaves attached, would sell for a sum sufficient to pay half the replevin bond due Shrieve, and the debts due Walker and Wallace, likewise. Yet the court has made no orderor decree,subjecting the slaves to the payment of Lewis’ half of the replevin bond, leaving the remainder, if any, for Walker and Wallace, but has tied ihe hands of Walker and Wallace, by a perpetual injunction against the whole of the slaves’! If Shrieve should make his debt out of other property owned by Lewis, or if it should be determined in the suit, in Mercer, that Shrieve or Hanly cannot subject the slaves attached by that proceeding, to the payment of the replevin bond, then the ■appellee has no ground upon which he can possibly ask the chancellor to restrain the executions in favor of Walker and Wallace. The decree in the present case, therefore, without benefiting Hanly in the least, may .work if enforced, a palpable injury to Walker and Wallace. The appellee has not filed the exhibits mentioned in his bill, fíe has made out no grounds in the present case for a decree in his favor, subjecting the slaves 'to the payment of any debt due him. if he wanted the slaves sold to pay the debt due Shrieve, he was a
Without intending to decide upon the future attitude ■of the parties, we think it sufficiently manifest for the reasons assigned, that the decree is erroneous-, but as we cannot tell what effect an examination of all the exhibits now kept out of view might have, when all proper parties are brought before the court, together with new proof which may come, we shall reverse the decree, and 'directa dismissal of the bill, without prejudice upon the •return of the cause to the circuit court.
The appellants must recover their costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.