Cummisky v. Cummisky
Cummisky v. Cummisky
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court,
The counsel for the plaintiff below requested the court to charge the jury “ that the judgment rendered in the action of partition is conclusive upon Nora Cummisky, and the subsequent proceeding's by which the land was sold and purchased by I. S. Jones vested a good title in him and his vendee, Patrick Cummisky, as against Nora Cummisky and her husband.” This was refused as was a second point, requiring the direction that the proceedings in the partition could not be impeached in the action of ejectment then trying. We think the refusal to answer as requested in both these points was error. The court held that the proceedings in partition were not conducted in a legal manner, and that Nora Cummisky was not bound thereby. The learned judge thus proceeds to enumerate the points wherein" he thought the record was deficient: “ There has been no sufficient judgment quod partitio fiat; no examination of the title; no valid inquisition or alias inquisition; no final judgment; no confirmation, and that includes no valid sale, having been made.” If, indeed, these charges against the record are correct, there was certainly no title passed by the sheriff’s sale and deed to Jones, and, of course, the plaintiff’s title fails. There cannot be such a thing as an adversary partition without a judgment or decree that partition shall be made, neither can a sale of the property be ordered without an inquisition, and the subsequent proceedings leading to such sale. But in all this the court was mistaken ; the proceedings were irregular in no material particular. The writ was served on Nora Cummisky and her husband, Bernard; there was a narr. filed, an appearance entered, and a plea put in by which the defendants denied that they held the premises together and undivided with the plaintiff. That plea was afterwards withdrawn, and thereupon the court entered judgment quod partitio fiat. It is said, however, that the court, before entering that judgment, made no examination of the title as required by the Act of Assembly. But as the Act, in this particular, is but directory, we will presume that the court did its duty. On the same day upon which judgment was entered, on motion of plaintiff’s attorney, a writ de partitions .faciendo, was awarded, and was issued returnable to the following September term. Here again the record is impeached in that an alias writ issued without the order of the court. This defect, if defect it is, is explained as follows: the attorney, by his praecipe, ordered the writ returnable, as was proper, to the September term, and the prothouotary, by mistake, made it returnable to the then present May term, which did not give time necessary for the
The judgment is reversed and a new venire ordered.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Cummisky versus Cummisky
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