Prosser v. Whitney
Prosser v. Whitney
Opinion of the Court
The suit in tbe court below was by Whitney and Wheat against Prosser and the other plaintiffs in error to recover upon a bond given on taking an appeal in chancery. In the chancery cause Whitney and Wheat were complainants and Prosser was one of several defendants. The decree denied to the complainants the relief they prayed, but it also denied costs of his defence to Prosser. Complainants appealed and so did Prosser; and under the statute the parties appealing were required to give bond to
The appellate court by its decree awarded to the complainant the relief prayed for, with costs of both courts as against Prosser. The costs were taxed at upwards of three hundred dollars. An execution issued upon the decree having been returned molla bona, this suit was then instituted upon Prosser’s appeal bond. The circuit court gave judgment in favor of the plaintiffs below for the amount of the penalty.
The decree of the Supreme Court took no notice of the separate appeals, but awarded costs to complainants in precisely the same form that it would have done had complainants alone appealed. It is therefore insisted on behalf of plaintiffs in error that there has been no decree whatever upon what they designate the cross-appeal; no special adjudication and no award of costs in respect to it. The decree is single and is made upon the merits which are brought up for consideration by the appeal of complainants; and the award of costs is made in disposing of the merits, and without regard to the appeal taken by Prosser. From
If appeal bonds were intended to secure the payment of such costs only as should be made in consequence of the appeal, the argument made for the plaintiffs in error would be very plausible and perhaps conclusive. It might be necessary in that case, before there could be a recovery on any bond where two or more appeals were taken, that the costs should be apportioned by an adjudication of the court, and the proper amount assigned to each appeal. But the appeal bonds are not thus restricted in their scope: the costs made in the case previous to decree in the court, of chancery are equally within their condition, and these of course are not referable to the appeal, and cannot be apportioned as between appellants except upon reasons appealing to the discretion and which should have influenced the chancery court.
Nor is there any other reason which is obvious to our minds why the liability of one appellant upon an appeal bond should necessarily be affected by the fact that another party has taken an appeal also. If the case were such that both parties failed in separate appeals, the court would probably apportion the costs between them; but this would be done in its discretion, and on a consideration of equities. But when one appellant succeeds on his appeal, and recovers costs as against the other, there is no reason why the appeal bond of the latter should not secure this recovery.
In the case at bar the complainants appealed. Prosser, had he seen fit, might have left the case to go to a hearing in the Supreme Court on their appeal, but in that case he would have been precluded from making objections to that part of the decree appealed from which denied him costs. Proctor v. Robinson 35 Mich. 284. He preferred to appeal from that part; and the statutory condition was that he should give such a bond as he gave. In giving that bond
The judgment must be affirmed with costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Isaac P. Prosser v. Clark J. Whitney
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published