Smith v. McGregor
Smith v. McGregor
Opinion of the Court
It appears from the agreed ease that, before and at the commencement of the several suits in replevin, the property in and right to the possession of the hogs in controversy, were in thé plaintiff; and he may well maintain the present action unless that property and right were divested by the proceedings in those replevin suits. In those suits the plaintiffs therein claimed the general property and right of present possession to the hogs then and now in controversy, and after seizure, executed a bond under the statute to the defendant, who also claimed to be general owner, in double the appraised value; whereupon the hogs were delivered to the plaintiffs, and *werc by them subsequently sold to the defendant in this action. The jury, upon the trial of the replevin suits, found the right of property and of possession, at the commencement of said several actions, to have been in the defendant, and found verdicts in his favor for the full value of the hogs, upon which judgments were rendered. Those judgments are still un
The present plaintiff insists that nothing less than payment or-satisfaction of those judgements could divest his property in the hogs replevied ; while it is claimed, on the part'of the defendant, that the giving of the bond for double the appraised value of the-property replevied, followed by a delivery of the hogs to the plaintiffs in replevin, and the rendition of judgments in favor of the defendant in said actions, for the full value of the hogs, did, under the statute, and as between the parties to the suit, divest the-defendant of his property in the hogs.
The action of replevin, as regulated by our statute (Swan’s Stat. of 1841, p. 784), differs essentially from the English action of replevin, and that of most of our sister states, and it is evident, that but little light can be cast upon the question, by reference to the-decisions of other states, based as they are upon statutory provisions- and rules of practice materially variant from ours.
In tho case of Jennings v. Johnson et al., 17 Ohio, 154, it was held by Reed, J., that the bond, as between the parties to the suit, “ takes the place of the property to the extent of the interest of the defendant in replevin;” and this holding is cited arguendo and with approbation, in Williams v. West, 2 Ohio St. 87, by Thurman, J. Upon the authority of these cases it was also-decided by Gholson, J., in 1 Handy’s Sup. Ct. 512, that the delivery of the property replevied, under the statute, to the plaintiff in replevin after bond given, invested him with the property and full power to sell and dispose of it at pleasure, and thereby *to confer a valid title upon the purchaser. But it is said, that the-rulings stated in 17 Ohio, and in 2 Ohio St., wore not necessary to a determination of those cases, and that they are, therefore, the mere dicta of the judges who uttered them. To a certain extent this may be true, but they are nevertheless entitled to great respect, and have been regarded by most if not all the inferior courts, ever since their promulgation, as determining tho effect of the statutory bond in our action of replevin—that, as to tho defendant in replevin, the bond is substituted for the property, and he must thereafter look to that alone for remuneration. And is not this a just construction of tho peculiar provisions of the act regulating actions of replevin above cited, when considered with reference to those principles of public policy, which attach to the
We have been referred to divers cases in New York and Massachusetts (9 Met. 444; 8 Ib. 298; 1 Pick. 287; 6 Hill, 560; 1 Comst. 165), to the effect that the institution of an action of replevin, and suing out the writ, giving bond, etc., do not divest the title of the defendant to the thing replevied. But as before intimated, the statutes of both those states are materially variant from ours. They provide substantially that the plaintiff shall give bond, among other things, for the restoration of the property, if the right is adjudged against him, and also that, in such event, the defendant shall have judgment for a return of the goods. Statutes of N. Y., revision 1829, vol. 2, p. 521; Revised Statutes of Mass, of 1836, 664. It is obvious that these decisions can shed no light upon the construction •of our statute in this particular.
The statute of New Hampshire provides that the plaintiff in replevin, before service of the writ, shall give bond to the sheriff, ■with sufficient sureties, in a sum not less than double the value of the property replevied, conditioned to prosecute his suit and to pay .all such damages and charges as may be awarded against him (Statutes of N. H., compilation of 1853, sec. “5, p. 520); and the form of the writ (page 464) requires him to deliver the property to the plaintiff if such bond is given. These provisions are nearly identical with those of our statute, and it was held in Bell v. Bartlett, 7 N. H. 191, that the judgment *in that state must be “for the value of the chattels, and not for a return of them.” See, .also, to same point, Whiting v. Levert, 2 Foster (N. H.), 10; Messer v. Bailey, 11 Ib. 9.
So in Pennsylvania, where, in replevin, it appears that the de•fendant has the election to surrender the property, or to retain it •on giving security, it was adjudged in Fisher v. Whoolery, 25 Penn.
But it is unnecessary to multiply authorities. The question must mainly depend for its solution upon the provisions of the statute, and we are satisfied that the construction heretofore indicated, is the true one, and 'that the bonds, given in the suits in replevin set forth in the agreed case, as between the parties, took the place of the property to the extent of the interest of the defendant in replevin, and that the hogs, upon their delivery by the sheriff to the plaintiffs in replevin, became the property of the plaintiffs, divested of all right and interest of the defendant in replevin.
If the thing replevied is of a peculiar or factitious value, such a.s family portraits, heir-looms, personal mementos, and the like, the ■defendant will not necessarily be compelled to accept the appraisement in lieu of the article, as in such case, the chancery powers of the court might be invoked to restrain alienation and compel a return if the right thereto should be determined in his favor.
Lastly, it is insisted, that if the construction we have given to the act regulating actions of replevin, be the true one, then the act is unconstitutional, as directly «infringing the provisions of ■our (old) constitution, article 8, that “private property shall ever be held inviolate,” and also that “every person, for an injury done him in his lands, goods, person, or reputation, shall have remedy 'by the duo course of law.”
It is worthy of remark, that the cases before cited in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, as well as those in Ohio, were all obnoxious to this objection, similar provisions being found in the constitutions of those states, and yet in none of them was this point even suggested, though in other respects the cases seem to have been severely contested and fully considered. In Arkansas, however, the objection seems to have been taken, and to have been summarily disposed of in two cases. Prater v. Frazer, 6 Eng. (Ark.) 249, and Freeman et al. v. Horen et al., 3 Ib. 355. In both these cases, it was urged that the action of replevin in the detinet, which deprived the party of his property, and after
The plaintiff’s affidavit of his property and right of possession, and the defendant’s possession and • claim of right to the-same property, make a case of disputed ownership to the chattel replevied. Our statute directs its seizure and delivery over to the plaintiff, if he will give bond with ^surety to pay to defendant all damages; and if ho do so, then the disputed right of the defendant to the chattel becomes a mere right in action to-recover its value from the plaintiff and his sureties; but if the plaintiff fails to give bond, then the property is returned to the defendant, and the plaintiff’s right to the chattel is changed into a mere right to recover its value, in that action, from the defendant. The Pennsylvania statute, perhaps with more propriety, confers this right of election upon the defendant who has the property in possession, but attaches the same consequences to the retention of the property and giving the bond. 25 Penn. St. 197.- See also the-cases above cited in-the New Hamj)shire reports. These statutes, in furtherance of the principle of public policy above stated, at once remove the clog upon alienation which would otherwise remain until the disputed ownership is settled, by conferring the-right of property upon one or the other claimants under certain contingencies, and a right of action for its value upon the other. To hold that such a law is obnoxious to the constitutional provisions cited by the counsel for the plaintiff, would uproot a large part of ¡our remedial legislation. It might, with equal propriety, be applied to cases where a transfer of property is effected under proceedings in attachment, or where a title is divested by a failure to comply with our registry acts. Judgment for defendant.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
It is not claimed, in this case, that the wrongful taking of goods from the owner by one having no right to them, by means of a false affidavit, deprives the rightful owner of his title. Nor is it pretended that the judgment for damages in replevin has any other effect than would adjudgment in trespass for wrongfully taking goods from the rightful owner. It is admitted that in neither case would the judgment, without actual satisfaction, divest the rightful owner of his title.. There remains, then, only one means—to wit, the giving of the bond—by which it can bo pretended that the title to the property, found by the jury to be in Smith, can be claimed to have been taken from him and vested in the plaintiffs in replevin. I do not perceive how the title of Smith could be thereby divested. The bond is only designed as security for the payment of the judgment, and it can only be used for that purpose. If it were of itself payment, no execution could be issued on the judgment.
Indeed, I find nothing expressed in the statute favoring a construction that any proceeding under the'statute, short of satisfaction of the judgment for its value, can possibly operate to divest the rightful owner of the property and vest the title in the wrong-doer, who, by the record, stands convicted of having wrongfully obtained possession thereof from the rightful owner.
The statute provides that if any person shall wrongfully detain' the goods and chattels of another, the owner, his agent, or attorney, may file a prajcipe, affidavit, etc.; and thereupon may have the goods so described replevied by the sheriff. See Chase’s Stat. 1722.
The object of the statute, as expressed, is to give the possession of the chattel to the party legally entitled to the possession ; and that right of possession is all that the action necessarily settles. Thus, not only may the general owner maintain the action, but a bailee may also maintain the action even against the general owner.
Nor can I perceive that the fact of the legislature having provided that the plaintiff, prior to having this summary possession of the chattel on an ex parte application, shall give security to the other party to make good his claim, the same as is required in the
Again, if the statute were susceptible of such interpretation, or •even if its language admitted of no other construction, I am unable «to see how such effect can be given to it consistent with the constitutional provision, under which enacted, that “ private property ought, and shall evet be held inviolate, but always subservient to the public welfare, provided a compensation in money be made to the «owner.” Article 8, section 4, Constitution of 1802. Under this provision of the constitution it has, I believe, been uniformly held by this court, that unless a statute, by which one’s property is taken for public use, provides means by which comjiensation may with certainty be obtained, the statute is void. McArthur v. Nelly et al., 5 Ohio, 143; Foot v. Cincinnati, 11 Ohio, 408. It has also been uniformly held that the compensation for the injury actually sustained must be made in money. Brown v. Cincinnati, 14 Ohio, 175. If, then, the legislature, in the exercise of the right of eminent domain, can not, in any exigency, take from an individual his right of property for public use, I confess I am unable to see -how, even under the potent plea of public policy, we can, in the .absence of any statutory express provision, by mere construction, transfer one’s title to his property, solemnly adjudicated to be good, ;to the wrong-doer, shown, by the same record, to have no right to .the property.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.