9 Iowa 51 | Iowa | 1859
At the common law, in an action of tres-
pass to personal property, the plea of “not guilty” was proper, if the plaintiff had no property in the goods, or the defendant was not guilty of the taking. So, if he did take the goods, but they did not belong to the plaintiff, the plea of tho general issue- was proper. Stephens’ Pleading, 195; 1 Chitty’s Pleading, 538.
Under the system of pleading inaugurated by our Code, there is, strictly speaking, no general issue. The defence relied upon, must be pleaded.
Judgment affirmed.
Walters v. Washington Insurance Company, 1 Iowa 404: Hutchinson v. Sangster, 4 G. Greene 340 : Bowen & King v. Hale, 4 Iowa 430 : Hagan v. Burch, 8 Ib 310.