Robertson v. Kraus
Robertson v. Kraus
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The action of assumpsit out of which this appeal arises originated in the county court of Allegheny county. The
Section 9 of the Act of May 5, 1911, P. L. 198, as amended and supplemented by the Act of May 23, 1913, P. L. 310, provides that in all cases in the county court, where judgment shall have been entered upon the verdict of a jury, no appeal to the common pleas shall be perfected until leave to take such appeal has been obtained by the appellant from the court of common pleas or a judge thereof. It further provides that the application for leave shall be by petition “setting forth the reasons why a retrial of the issues of fact is necessary to prevent an injustice,” and that this petition shall be heard after such notice to the' adverse party as the court of common pleas shall prescribe. The obvious implications from the latter provision are, that a party who has had a jury trial is not entitled to appeal unless a retrial of the issues of fact is necessary to prevent injustice; that the application for appeal is not an ex parte proceeding in which the allegations of the petition must be taken as verity; that the adverse party has a right, not only to be heard upon the question of their sufficiency, but to controvert them by answer; and that the court is to exercise a sound judicial discretion, on due consideration of the relevant matters properly brought before it, and may refuse the appeal if, upon such consideration, it is not satisfied that a retrial is necessary to prevent injustice. While no statute expressly gives a right of appeal, in the original and strict sense of that
Referring to the petition and answer upon, which the parties submitted the application for leave to appeal, we find that there is a conflict as to many of the material facts involved in the issue and as to what the evidence given on the trial showed regarding them. The parts of the charge which were assigned for error in the reasons for a new trial are referred to in the petition as the ground for the contention that a retrial of the issues was necessary in order to prevent injustice. The
The order is affirmed at the costs of the appellant.
Reference
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Courts—Allegheny county court—Common pleas—Appeals—Review by Superior Court. 1. Under the Act of May 5, 1911, P. L. 198, as amended by the Act of May 23, 1913, P. L. 310, relating to the county court of Allegheny county, and appeals therefrom to the common pleas, a party who has had a jury trial is not entitled to appeal, unless a retrial of the issues of fact is necessary to prevent injustice. The application for appeal is not an ex parte proceeding in which the allegations of the petition must be taken as verity. The adverse party has a right not only to be heard upon the question of their sufficiency, but to controvert them by answer; and the court of common pleas is to exercise a sound judicial discretion on due consideration of the relevant matters properly brought before it, and may refuse the appeal if, upon such consideration, it is not satisfied that a trial is necessary to prevent injustice. 2. An appeal having the scope of a common-law writ of certiorari lies from an order of the court of common pleas refusing an appeal from a judgment of the county court of Allegheny county; but in considering such an appeal the Superior Court can only go by the record of the common pleas, for that is all that is brought up for review by the certiorari. 3. On such an appeal the evidence taken at the trial cannot be considered where it was not brought upon the record of the common pleas by incorporating in, or attaching to the petition, a transcript of it, or in any other manner. The appellate court cannot consider selected excerpts from the evidence printed in the appellant’s paper-book, if the appellee objects.