Miller v. Cambria County
Miller v. Cambria County
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The agreement under which this case was tried by the court without a jury was signed by the plaintiff and the county com-' missioners, was duly filed and docketed and reads as follows : “ Case stated. In re Dr. Miller v. The County of Cambria. In the court of common pleas of Cambria county. No. September Term, 1903. And now, July 10, 1903, it is hereby agreed by and between the parties, plaintiff and defendant above named, that the following case be stated for the opinion of the court in the nature of a special verdict. It is admitted that Dr. E. L. Miller is the duly qualified and elected coroner in and for the county of Cambria, Pennsylvania, and that he was the coroner in and for said county at the time he viewed the remains of the persons named in the list hereto attached. It is further agreed that the transcripts or returns of the coroner, together with his testimony and the testimony of other witnesses produced by either the plaintiff, defendant, or the court shall be heard and considered in evidence in the trial of this case, but the transcripts or returns alone, in the absence of the testimony of the coroner, shall not be considered. If the court be of the opinion that Dr. E. L. Miller, coroner of Cambria county, is entitled to receive compensation from said county for services rendered in the cases mentioned in the list hereto attached and the transcripts or returns and testimony introduced in support of the samé, then judgment to be entered by the court for the plaintiff and against the defendant for the amount claimed to be due, or any part thereof which the court may determine to be due ; but if the court be of the opinion that the plaintiff is not entitled to receive pay for thé services mentioned and described under the evidence and act or acts of assembly or supplements thereto and the decisions of the courts thereon as aforesaid, then judgment to be entered for the defendant. It is further agreed by and between the parties hereto that they will dispense with trial by jury and submit this case, including the transcripts and returns, and such other evidence as may be produced to the court under the provisions of section 27, article V, of the constitution and the act of April 22, 1874. It is further agreed and understood that the costs shall follow the judgment, and each party shall reserve the right to appeal,”
But I am of opinion that the court was not without jurisdiction to try the cause. The Act of June 13, 1836, P. L. 568, provides as follows: “ It shall be lawful for any persons willing to become parties to an amicable action, to enter into an agreement in writing for that purpose, either in their proper persons, or by their respective agents or attorneys; and on the production of such agreement to the prothonotary of any court having jurisdiction of the subject-matter, he shall enter the same on his docket, and from the time of such entry, the action shall be denied to be pending in like manner as if the defendant had appeared to a summons issued against him by the plaintiff.” I do not say that the paper filed September 7,1903, is to be recommended as a model form of agreement for an amicable action, but upon a careful examination of its terms in the light of the statute, and giving them a reasonable intendment, it seems clear to me that it contains every essential element of such agreement and ought to be so construed. The caption shows that the parties assumed the positions of plaintiff and defendant, and that the paper was to be entered in the records of the court of common pleas of the county among other actions brought to September term, 1903, and it was produced to the prothonotary for the purpose of having him enter the cause upon his docket, which he accordingly did. In the body of the agreement it was stipulated that the cause should be tried by the court without a jury, that if under the law and the facts admitted and those
The second reason assigned in support of the motion to quash is that the agreement though termed a case stated, is in fact an agreement of submission for trial by the court without a jury, and the record does not show that exceptions were filed in the office of the prothonotary of that court within thirty days after the decision was filed. We add that the record does not show that notice of the decision was directed or given as the Act of April 22, 1874, P. L. 109, requires. The proper practice is for the court to direct judgment to be entered in accordance with the decision, unless exceptions be filed within the period after notice prescribed by the act. If the party aggrieved by the decision files exceptions, this will be deemed so far a waiver of the notice as to authorize the trial court to proceed to a hearing upon them, but it will not entitle the except-ant to a review in the appellate court until after they have been disposed of. A fortiori, an appeal taken before exceptions have been filed is premature, unless the order of court is so drawn as to raise the presumption that the court intended the prothonotary to enter a final and absolute judgment forthwith, and to deny to the parties the right to file exceptions and to a hearing thereon. We think no such presumption arises here. See Shamokin & Coal Twp., Light & Power Co. v. John, 18
Appeal quashed and record remitted with directions that the cause be proceeded with in accordance with the provisions of the statute regulating trials by the court without a jury.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.