M'Michael v. Gillispie
M'Michael v. Gillispie
Opinion of the Court
The defendant is appellant from a judgment on a sequestration bond, which he executed as surety of Weathersby,
In an amended answer, the defendant urged, that the plaintiff acquired no right by the sequestration, because the writ on which the property was sequestered was illegally issued, there having been no order of court therefor.
The sequestration bond bears date the 3d of October, 1838. Several witnesses were sworn, who proved the killing of several hogs, the death of several oxen, and the felling of a number of trees, from whose testimony the jury inferred that the property sustained damage to the amount of $400, for which the judgment appealed from was given.
The record shows that, in the month of October, 1839, a compromise was entered into by the plaintiff and Weathersby, which terminated without the participation of the present defendant, in the resumption of the sequestered property by the plaintiff, without any judgment having been obtained by the latter.
The counsel for the appellant has contended, that the plaintiff and appellee could only acquire a claim on his client by a judgment against Weathersby, in the suit in which the sequestration bond was given ; while the adverse counsel has urged, that after the. execution of the sequestration bond, the plaintiff acquired a claim for any injury or deterioration suffered by the property, inchoate, perhaps, and defeasible by a judgment in favor of Weathersby, but which became complete by the resumption of the property sequestered, with the consent of Weathersby. The conclusion to which we have come, as to the damages given by the
In their testimony in regard to the damage, not one of the witnesses shows any injury or deterioration, after the daté of the sequestration bond. It is clear, that the appellant cannot be responsible for any injury or deterioration, between the original possession of Weathersby, and his dispossession under the writ of sequestration. The only witnesses who, for any period, state the injury or deterioration, fix it in the spring of 1838, or the summer of that year; while the sequestration bond was given in the autumn, i. e., on the 3d of October, 1838. No part of the testimony enables us to discover any injury or deterioration after that date. The verdict of the jury was, consequently, erroneous.
It is, therefore, ordered and decreed, that the judgment be annulled and reversed; and that ours be for the defendant, with costs in both courts.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.