54 Miss. 733 | Miss. | 1877
delivered the opinion of the court.
The action was replevin for a buggy, commenced in the Circuit Court. The affidavit and the declaration stated the value of the buggy at $ 165 ; but the verdict of the jury fixed it at |150. In entering up judgment on the verdict, the court certified that the plaintiff had reasonable ground to expect a verdict fixing the value of the property at more than $150.
It is insisted that the valuation of the jury ousted the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court, or rather demonstrated that it never had jurisdiction, and that, upon its rendition, the suit should have been dismissed, or remanded to a Justice’s Court. Such was our ruling in Stephen v. Eiseman, ante, 535; but in that case there was no value given in the affidavit, nor in the declaration, nor anj'where, save in the verdict. There was nothing except the verdict to suggest a value, and the value ascertained by it was beneath the jurisdiction. There was no certificate by the court that the plaintiff in that case had reasonable ground to anticipate a higher valuation. We found ourselves, therefore, confronted by a case which, according to the only standard suggested by the record, seemed clearly below the jurisdiction of the court in which it originated. Here, on the contrary, the pleadings give the court jurisdiction; and the judgment recites that there was good reason to believe that the value of the property warranted the pleadings.
Code 1871, § 666, provides that “ if a suit shall he brought in any Circuit Court for a less sum than the court can take cognizance of, or if a greater sum than is due shall be demanded, on purpose to evade this act, the plaintiff shall be nonsuited, and shall pay costs; and if the plaintiff, in any other case, shall not recover more than $150, he shall not recover any costs of the defendant, unless the judge shall be of opinion, and so enter on the record, that the plaintiff had reasonable ground to expect to recover more than $150, or unless the court shall have jurisdiction of the cause, without respect to the amount in controversy.” This section seems to declare that the jurisdiction of the court shall be determined by the pleadings, except where
Sect. 666 is not in terms made applicable to actions for the recovery of personal property; but the principle governing these and suits for money demands is the same. The
In Askew v. Askew, 49 Miss. 301, a suit commenced in the Justice’s Court was dismissed in the Circuit Court, upon the testimony of the agent of the plaintiff, who had instituted the action, that the value of the property sued for was $200 ; and this action of the Circuit Court was approved here. This decision evidently proceeded upon the idea that the plaintiff, knowing that the value of the property was in excess of the
The judgment was properly rendered against the defendant for the return of the property or its alternate value. The bond taken by the sheriff was not in accordance with the statute, and therefore would not warrant a judgment against the surety; but it sufficiently showed that the property remained in the hands of the defendant, and therefore justified the judgment against him. Judgment affirmed.