Hampton v. Hughes

Supreme Court of South Carolina March 22, 1910

Hampton v. Hughes, 67 S.E. 311 (S.C. 1910)

85 S.C. 343; 1910 S.C. LEXIS 252

Hydrick

Opinion of the Court

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

Mr. Justice Hydrick.

This was an action in the court of a magistrate to recover a mare. Over defendant’s objection, a printed paper, signed by plaintiff and the sheriff of Buncombe County, N. C., containing a description of the mare, and offering a reward of fifty dollars for her, was admitted.

Plaintiff had a verdict and judgment, which was affirmed on appeal to the Circuit Court.

1 The exception that the printed reward was improperly admitted in evidence cannot be sustained, because no ground of objection to it was stated at the trial in the magistrate’s court, and because everything it contained was testified to by one or more of -the witnesses without objection. The admission of the paper itself was, therefore, harmless, if error, and the exception is technical. Section 368 of the Code, relative to appeals from inferior courts to the Circuit Court provides: “Upon hearing the appeal, the appellate court shall give judgment according to the justice of the case, without regard to technical errors and defects which do not affect the merits.” Jenkins v. Ry., 73 S. C., 292, 53 S. E., 481.

2 The other exceptions involve questions of fact which cannot be reviewed by this Court. Judgment affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name: Hampton v. Hughes.
Status: Published
Syllabus: 1. Evidence — Magistrate Court — Appeal.—Admission of printed reward for return of a horse in claim and delivery is harmless, if error here, because no objection was made to it when offered and its contents was testified to by other witnesses without objection. The objection is also technical, which objections are disregarded by the Circuit Court on appeal from magistrate court. 2. Appeal. — Exceptions involving questions of fact on appeal from circuit judgments in appeal from magistrate’s courts will not be considered here.