Dresser v. Cox
Dresser v. Cox
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court. The defendant and appellee insists on the dismissal of the appeal, on the ground of its having been prematurely taken, (i. e. before the final judgment was given) on the award of a new trial, the district court having been of opinion, that the verdict was contrary to evidence, and the damages excessive.
The counsel for the plaintiff and appellant urges, that the action was grounded on a tort, and there had been two verdicts against the defendant, and that the plaintiff is without
The case of a court so obstinately persisting in setting aside a verdict, as to drive suitors out of it, is, we trust, a barely possible one; but neither the constitution nor the laws have vested us with the power of remedying it.
It is true, the constitution has vested the supreme court with the power of revising judgments and decisions, in civil cases, of a certain value; but the legislature has given the appeal from judgments only, and this court has declared it considered as such, not only the judgments which put an end to the suit, in the inferior court, but all others (given in the course of proceedings) that work an irreparable injury.
In a case by attachment, the judgment, which dissolves the attachment and loosens the property attached, is of the latter kind,
In all cases, in which the like irreparable injury does not result from any other than a final judgment, the party is bound to wait till the case has been completely acted upon by the inferior court; because, this court may give him complete relief, in the ordinary course of the suit, when the case comes up, and it is not unlikely that the final issue of the suit in the inferior court, as may render it unnecessary to pray an appeal.
So in the present case, if, as the appellant urges, the new trial was improperly awarded, and the error is remediable here, we may likely give relief, by giving that judgment which, in our opinion, the district court ought to have given as the first or any subsequent verdict.
The plaintiff, therefore, ought to have de
If it be true, that the plaintiff needs the interference of a superior court to prevent injustice by the improper delay of the district court, to give final judgment, or by too easily awarding new trials, we cannot come to his aid, for this tribunal has not been erected into a court to quicken or direct the conduct of other judges.
It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed, that the appeal be dismissed with costs, and the cause remanded with directions to the district court to proceed therein; the costs of the appeal to be borne by the plaintiff and appellant.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- DRESSER v. COX
- Status
- Published