26 Mo. 121 | Mo. | 1857
delivered the opinion of the court.
This case was commenced before a justice of the peace in 1854. The plaintiff filed a written statement of his cause of
The practice act of 1849, except the 25th article, did not apply to proceedings or actions commenced before justices of the peace, and the court therefore was not required to find the facts on which the judgment was predicated. (Code of 1849, art. 30, sec. 6; 21 Mo. 436; 19 Mo. 82; 20 Mo. 453.) The plaintiff ought, as under the old system of practice, to have asked the court to declare the propositions of law affecting his case, presented in the form of instructions, (9 Mo. 875,) and where the cause is tried by the court sitting as a jury, and no exceptions are taken until after the verdict, the judgment will not be reversed in this court. (9 Mo. 351; 21 Mo. 443; 18 Mo. 509; 19 Mo. 642; 19 Mo. 121; 24 Mo. 524.)
Justices of the peace have jurisdiction in actions of trover, (12 Mo. 51,) but only in cases where the damages claimed do not exceed fifty dollars; and for the reason that the justice had no jurisdiction in this case, the judgment of the circuit court is reversed and the cause dismissed at the cost of the plaintiff.