Groh v. Bassett
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Groh v. Bassett
Opinion of the Court
The garnishee, Bassett, was examined on the 23d day of January, 1860, and his disclosure made no case against him. Upon the evidence elicited from him, be would have been discharged, as the indebtedness he acknowledged was on a promissory note which was negotiable. Hubbard vs. Williams, 1 Minn. R., 54. The case was then adjourned until the 18th day of February, 1860. At the adjourned day the garnishee did not appear, and the Plaintiff took the deposition of Elliot, who swore that he had seen the principal Defendant, Mr. Chase, on the 24th of January, 1860, and that he had acknowledged that he was the owner of the note that Bassett had spoken of. This evidence failed to make a case against Bassett, as Chase might have parted with the note between the date of his admission, and the time of the decision. The Court, however, rendered judgment against Bassett as garnishee for the amount of the note. This was an error, and could have been relieved against by appeal, writ of error, or motion for a new trial. The order of the Court that judgment be rendered, was made on the 27th day of April, 1860, and the judgment entered upon it on the 1st day of May following.
The counsel for the garnishee insists that this is a motion for a new trial under subdivision 5 of sec. 59, p. 564, of the Conyp. Stats., because he asserted as one of the grounds upon which he sought relief against the judgment, that the evidence was insufficient to justify the decision, and that it was against law. Supposing it to be a motion for a new trial, we will see if it has been made in time. There are three ways of reviewing decisions of the District Court.
1st. By motion in the District Court for a new trial.
2d. By appeal from the judgment to the Supreme Court, and—
3d. By writ of error.
The statute on the subject of new trials for causes arising under the 5th subdivision of section 59, above cited, applies to cases decided in term time, because it says, (sec. 63 ¶. 565), “ The application for a cause mentioned in the fourth and fifth subdivisions of section fifty-nine, can only be made when notice thereof, oral or written, was given in open court,
The papers show that the Defendant, Bassett, did not know of the judgment, until January, 1861, when he discovered it by accident. He then waited until June 27th, 1861, before taking any steps to relieve himself from the same. This appears from the date of the affidavit upon which the motion is founded. We held in Gerish & Brewster vs. Johnson 5 Minn. R. 23, that a party against whom a judgment had been taken through his inadvertance, surprise or excusable neglect, must
The Court below has held that the delay from the time the garnishee first obtained notice of the judgment, in January, 1861, till June 27,1861, when he first took steps to obtain relief against it, was unreasonable, and we fully agree with him in this respect. Nothing appears in explanation or excuse of such laches, so we are ' bound to believe that it was simple neglect.
In the case of Myrick vs. Pierce, 5 Minn. R. 65, we held that a motion for relief against a judgment under section 94 above cited was addressed to the discretion of the Court, and an order made therein was not appealable. We cannot distinguish the case at bar from that, except that in this the motion was denied, in that it was granted, which in no way varies the principle.
The appeal must be dismissed, as we can see no abuse of the discretion of the Court in denying the relief sought.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- David C. Groh v. Joel B. Bassett, Garnishee of D. P. Chase
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published