2 Tex. 204 | Tex. | 1847
delivered the opinion of the court.
But is this discrepancy in names such an irregularity as to vitiate the verdict? We think not. We are not aware of any rule of the common law, or of any statute which requires a verdict to be signed. That is not an ingredient in the definition of a verdict, which is, “The answer of the jury given to the court, concerning the matter of fact in any case committed to their trial.” 6 Jac. L. Die. 340. And signing is believed not to be a requisite, or essential to its validity. Such was the opinion of the supreme court of Kentucky in The Commonwealth v. Ripperdon, Litt. Sel. Cas. 195, where they expressed it as their opinion that there is no law which requires the verdict of a petit jury, either in a criminal or civil case, to be signed; and that it would, beyond a doubt, be good without it.
Then does the' name of William C. Hollmark appended to the verdict have the effect to annul it? Clearly not, upon the maxim utile, per inutile, non viiiatur. It can be no more than mere surplusage, which does not vitiate. 2 Bibb, 238; 3 Tom. L. Die. 738.
The test of the sufficiency of a verdict is this: Is it so certain that the court can give judgment upon it?
This was the test applied in the case of Hawks v. Crofton, 2 Burr. 699, where the principle of the decisions was said by Lord Mansfield to be, “That where the intention of the jury is manifest and beyond a doubt, the court will set right matters of form and the mere act of the clerk;” and the general rule
Applying the test of these decisions to the present case, there can be no doubt the verdict is sufficient. It is not “ so uncertain that the court cannot give judgment upon it, but, on the contrary, it is free from any uncertainty or doubt.” .And, in the language of Lord Mansfield in the case before cited, “ We think'the present case is such a clear case, that the court may here give judgment upon the substantial finding, though the clerk may have been irregular and faulty in point of form; it is very clear what the jury meant.”
We are of opinion that the judgment be affirmed.