Cochrane v. Bank of the United States
Cochrane v. Bank of the United States
Opinion of the Court
Upon six notes of the Bank of the United States, of $100 each, protested for non payment in Philadelphia, at the instance of one Asa D. Gove, ,on the 23d of September, 1842, six different suits, in the names of Cochrane and five other persons purporting to reside in Boston, Cincinnati and elsewhere,
The Bank of the United States made an opposition to its being homologated, because no demand of payment was made, or notice of seizure given : and on the grounds, that there was no legal advertisement or appraisment made; that the legal delays had not been allowed between the time of seizure and sale; and that the sale is informal and void, not having been made according to law. The restraining order of the Commercial Court is also alleged to have been violated, and that it is still in force. All the objections were overruled, the monition confirmed, and the defendants have appealed.
The judgment is erroneous on several grounds; but it is only necessary to state one. Under the executions issued in October, 1842, the lots sold were seized; when the Commercial Court granted its injunction, or restraining order, the marshall returned the executions into the clerk’s office, with a statement of his proceedings up to that time. The summer following, after the judge and parties had determined to disregard the commands of the Commercial Court, six alias writs of execution were issued, no new seizure was made under any of them, nor is there any return on them of the proceedings of the marshall. It seems that the marshall advertised the property, and we find an appraisment in the record, but we see no seizure. The mar-shall could not have proceeded under the executions first issued, because he had returned them, and they were not in his possession. By returning those executions, and taking out new writs, all proceedings under the old writs were abandoned, and under the new executions new seizures should have been made. 1 Rob. 541.
The marshall was not bound to return those executions, when restrained by the Commercial Court. On the contrary, it was bis duty to have endorsed on them his proceedings up to the time he was enjoined from further action, and to have kept the writs, to be proceeded on when the restraining order should be annulled or withdrawn. Whenever a sheriff or marshall has made a seizure under a fieri facias before the return day, he must keep the writ under which he has acted until he shall sell
It is, therefore, ordered and decreed, that the judgment appealed from be annulled and reversed, and that the sale made by the marshall of.the City Court of Lafayette, under the executions in favor of Asa F. Cochrane and others, against the Bank of the United States, on the 17th of August, 1843, be annulled and set aside, and the prayer for the homologation of the monition rejected, at the costs of the appellee.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.