Bourgeois v. Bourgeois
Bourgeois v. Bourgeois
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The plaintiff enjoined the execution of a writ of fieri facias, under which certain slaves had been seized as the property of her husband, Honoré Champagne, at the suit of defendant a judgment creditor. She alleges that on the 24th of March, 1835, she was separated of property from her hus
On the trial, plaintiff could produce neither the original nor a copy of the sheriff’s sale alleged to have been made to her. The record shows however a judgment in her favor for $4304 06, followed by &fl. fa. and alias fi. fa.; and an appraisement of the very slaves seized in this suit, made on the 12th of June, 1837, in presence of A. Lawson, sheriff. A receipt is indorsed on the last execution in the following words and figures, to wit:
“ Received of A. Lawson, as sheriff of the parish of Lafourche Interior, two thousand eight hundred and thirty-two dollars, being the amount of sale of property seized and sold under the within execution, and of which I became the sole purchaser this 13th June, 1837.
her
“ Marie Magdelaine M Bourgeois.” mark.
“ Jean Bte. Bernard,”
“ Weuville Champagne.”
It is said that a sale to plaintiff of these slaves must be inferred from the appraisement and this receipt indorsed on the execution; this we are by no means prepared to do. Had an adjudication taken place, we are bound to presume that the sheriff would have made Ms return in due form, and moreover would have caused his deed of sale to be recorded in the clerk’s office. In the absence of either of these, we can recognize no title whatever in plaintiff; the appraisement is one of the formalities which precede the sheriff’s sale; an adjudication might or might not have followed. As to the receipt, it contains no description whatever of the property mentioned [497] as having been bought by plaintiff; being moreover under private signature, nothing shows at what time it was written; but admitting it to have been made out as it purports to be on 13th of June, 1837, it creates at most but a presumption which cannot supply the want of the sheriff’s return, which is the only legal evidence of his official acts; had such a return been
It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed, that the judgment of the district court be avoided and reversed; and it is further ordered and decreed that the injunction be dissolved, and that the defendant do recover of plaintiff ten per cent, as damages on the amount of the judgment, the exe- [498] cution of which was enjoined; and that plaintiff pay costs in both courts.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Bourgeois v. Bourgeois & Al.
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- Published