Long v. Ober
Long v. Ober
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
I. The first question raised by the exceptions is, whether the County Court erred in restricting, under s. 22, c. 125, Gen. Sts., the plaintiff’s costs to the amount of damages recovered. By the provisions of that section, “ in all actions of trespass upon the freehold, other than those in which the right of title or possession of real estate shall come in question,” the costs are restricted to the amount of the damages recovered, unless the damages exceed seven dollars. Hence, if “ the right of title or
II. The defendant filed “ a motion to dismiss for want of jurisdiction, for the reason, that at the time of the commencement of the suit, the damages sustained by the plaintiff were less than twenty dollars.” The ad damnum in the writ is $200. The County Court has found that the plaintiff brought his suit to the County Court in good faith. Regardless of the ad damnum in the writ, and the good faith of the plaintiff in bringing the suit in the County Court, the fact that “ title to land was concerned ” in the trial of the suit excepted it from the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace. Every action of trespass quare clausum fregit does not necessarily put in issue the title of the demanded premises. The plaintiff would be entitled to recover by showing, that as against the defendant, he was entitled to possession of the premises. In the case at bar, however, the plaintiff’s only right to the possession of the strip of land in question resulted from the fact that he, rather than the defendant, had the title to it. Hence, the trial of the issue between the parties “ concerned ” the title to the strip of land in controversy, and so gave the County Court original jurisdiction of the cause of action. The County Court, therefore, correctly overruled the defendant’s motion to dismiss
Reference
- Full Case Name
- THOMAS LONG v. CHARLES OBER
- Status
- Published