4 Rawle 273 | Pa. | 1833
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This was an action of replevin, and was commenced on the 27th of November, 1828, in the District Court for the City and County of Philadelphia, by the defendant in error, against the plaintiff in error, for the recovery of ninety-seven tons of logwood, claimed by the plaintiff below as his property, to which the defendant there, by his plea, put in on the 25th of March, 1829, also asserted his right of property. Issue was joined on the plea of property alone, after which the cause was tried by a jury, on the 21st day of April,
On the trial of the cause in the District Court,-the plaintiff there, in order to establish his right of property in the logwood, gave in evidence, that in the beginning of September, 1828, it was purchased of the owners thereof for him at Tabasco, and put on board of his vessel, the brig Sally Barker, then at that place, and under the care of John II. Marshall, employed by Sylvester Pier, the plaintiff below, as the captain and master of the brig, to bring her with the cargo to the city of New York, where the plaintiff then resided. Three or four days after the captain sailed from Tabasco, with the logwood as his cargo, he fraudulently, as was alleged by the plaintiff, and under a false pretence of the brigs’ being leaky and unfit to make the passage good to New York, changed his course and went to New Orleans. There he had a survey made of the vessel, which w'as condemned. Ife placed her with the logwood, under the authority of William Nott and John Parker, commission merchants at that place, to be sold by them. The logwood weighing in all, ninety-seven tons thirteen hundred three quarters and fourteen pounds, was sold by these gentlemen to Samuel P. Morgan Sp Co., at seventeen dollars and fifty cents per ton, who transmitted it by the barque Hercules to Philadelphia, consigned to Messrs. C. Price Sp Morgan, of that place. It arrived there about the 28th of October, 1828, and about five weeks afterwards was sold by these last named gentlemen to the defendant below, James Marsh, at twenty-six dollars per ton cash. On the 30th or 31st of the same October, Sylvester Pier, the plaintiff, residing still at New York, received a letter from William Nott Sp Co. advising him of their having sold the logwood, at seventeen dollars and fifty cents per ton cash, and of the disposition made of the proceeds thereof by them. On the first day of November, then next following, Sylvester Pier, having come to Philadelphia, found the logwood there on board of the barque Hercules, and immediately caused a written notice to be given to William Longcope, the captain of the Hercules, and likewise to Messrs. Price Sp Morgan, that he claimed the logwood as his property, and at the same time demanded the delivery of it, and forbade them to dispose of it to any other, as he would hold them responsible to him for it.
The defendant below, on the trial of this cause, in order to sustain his plea, among other things, offered to read in evidence to the jury the exemplification duly certified, of a record of a judgment rendered in the Superior Court of the city of New York, in favour of William Nott above named, in a suit brought by Sylvester Pier, the plaintiff below in this case, against him and John Parker, above named, the latter of whom was returned by the sheriff upon the writ of capias ad respondendum, commencing the suit, “ not found.” The cause of action as set forth in this exemplification is contained in nine counts,
The second and third counts, are for breaches of promises nearly of the same import as in the first count, except that it is not alleged that the defendants sold the vessel and cargo.
The fourth count, is upon a promise stated to hare been made by the defendants to the plaintiff, that they in consideration of his having delivered to them, at their request, the logwood, of the value of three thousand dollars, and having made a promise to pay them a reasonable reward, would take care of the logwood and reship it at New Orleans on board of some vessel bound for New York, for and on account of the plaintiff, which they failed to perform, whereby he lost the whole of it.
The fifth count, is for a breach of promise in respect to the vessel alone, which is alleged to be of the-value of two thousand dollars.
The sixth count, is upon a promise stated to have been made by the defendants to the plaintiff, to account to him for divers goods and merchandizes belohging to him, of the value of five thousand dollars, delivered to them at their request by the plaintiff, to be sold and disposed of by them for him, and which they accordingly sold at New Orleans, on the 20th of October, 1828, amounting in the whole, to five thousand dollars, but failed to account for the same.
The seventh count, is for a breach of promise to account for other goods of the value of five thousand dollars, put into the hands of the defendants by the plaintiff
The eighth count, is upon a promise to pay five thousand dollars lent, five thousand dollars paid, laid out and expended, and the like sum had and received.
The ninth and last count, is upon an account stated, in which it is averred, that the defendants were found indebted to the plaintiff in other five thousand dollars.
To this exemplification being read in evidence to the jury, the counsel for the plaintiff below objected; and the court thereupon
The defendant below, then offered to read in evidence to the jury, the same exemplification in connexion with a writing purporting to be a bill of particulars, drawn up in the following terms, to wit:
“ Sylvester Pier v. William Nott and John Parker. Rill of particulars^ the plaintiff’s demands under the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth counts of his declaration, reserving to himself the right to recover damages- under all or any of the preceding counts.
“ 1828. October 3rd. Value of the brig Sally Barker, John H. Marshall master, her sails, rigging, tackle and furniture, arrived at New Orleans from Tabasco, and put under the defendants’ care and control at New Orleans, at or about this date, to be sold and disposed of by the defendants, and to be accounted for by them to the plaintiff, - #1500 00
“ One hundred tons of logwood, which arrived in the said vessel and composed her cargo, also put into the hands of the defendants, or under their care and control, to be sold and disposed of, and to be accounted for by the defendants to the plaintiff. Value of the same at twenty-eight dollars per ton, #2800 00
“ October 10th. Cash received by the defendants for 97 tons 13 wt. 3qrs. 14 lbs. logwood belonging to the plaintiff, and sold by the defendants to S. P,. Morgan Sf Co. at New Orleans, at #17 50 per ton, #1709 65
“ October- 20th. Balance of account, stated and rendered by the defendants to the plaintiff, dated New Orleans, 20th October, 1828, being account of sales, and nett proceeds of logwood, received by the brig Sally Barker from Tabasco, #1589 42
“ October 22nd. Cash received’ by the defendants from sales of the hull, masts, sails and rigging of the brig Sally Barker, belonging to the plaintiff, #44188
“ Money had and received by-the defendants, at New Orleans, to and for the use of the plaintiff, • #2020 25
“ Balance of an account, stated by the defendants, to and with the plaintiff dated New Orleans, 22nd October, 1828, #2020 25
“ Interest oh the above sums respectively,
“ W T. M‘Coun,
“ Attorney to the plaintiff.”
As the first, third, fourth and eighth errors assigned are all that I intend to notice, by giving my own opinion on the first and eighth, and that of this court on the third and fourth, it is deemed unnecessary to state further the proceedings had on the trial of the cause in the court below.
Upon the first, second, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth errors, which embrace all that have been assigned after the third and fourth, this court, owing to the great press of business and want of time, have come to no settled conclusion, but thinking it probable that the opinion which they have formed on the question involved in the third and fourth errors may determine this case finally, have therefore thought it advisable to deliver it, that there may be no unnecessary delay in having an end put to the controversy.
The first error assigned, is, that the District Court refused to permit the counsel of the defendant below to commence and conclude the argument to the jury after the testimony on both sides was closed. It has been contended, that as the only plea put in and relied on by the defendant is that of property, which is purely affirmative, he was therefore entitled to the conclusion in summing up and addressing the jury. Although in most cases where the defendant pleads merely an affirmative plea, he is, by the course of practice, entitled to the conclusion, because generally it throws upon him the onus probandi, yet the plea of property, as I apprehend, does not produce this effect in the action of replevin. The plaintiff, I think, must, notwithstanding, ñrst prove that he has a right to maintain his writ of replevin, by showing that he has either an absolute or special property in himself. Co. Lift. 145. Bul. N. P. 52. In this respect, the action of replevin is different from trespass, which may be supported against any one who has no right, by him who has the possession. Waterman v. Robinson, 5 Mass. R. 303. Hence property in a stranger is pleadible in replevin either in bar or in abatement. Salk. 5. 94. S. C. Ld. Raym. 984. Cro. Jae. 519. Garth. 243. 6 Mod. 69. 81. 103. 2 Lev. 92. 1 Ventr. 249. Gilb. on Rep. 127-8. So if the defendant plead property in himself in abatement, he does not thereby confess the caption, but only shows that the plaintiffhath not a right to the deliverance. Gilb. on Rep. 127. And more especially must this be so in Pennsylvania, where the action of replevin may be maintained by the plaintiff to recover the possession of goods and chattels to which he is entitled as owner in all cases, as well where the defendant came by the possession of them lawfully, and withholds it from the plaintiff unlawfully, as where he got it tortiously ; and consequently the plea of property, although it be the only plea put in by the defendant, cannot be considered as an admission by him that the
The third error assigned, is, in the decision of the court below refusing to admit in evidence the exemplification of the record of the judgment rendered in the Superior Court of the city of New York, which was offered for that purpose by the plaintiff in error. This court is clearly of opinion, that it ought to have been admitted in evidence, and that the court below erred in rejecting it. It was offered in evidence by the defendant below, to show that the right or title of the plaintiff below to the logwood in question in this action, was decided against him upon the trial of a suit in the Superior Court of the city of New York, which was commenced and prosecuted therein by him against William Nott and John Parker, from whom the defendant below claimed to derive his right of property to the logwood, by means of a sale made of it by Nott and Parker as the agents of the plaintiff belowc
From this exemplification of the record of the judgment of the Superior Court of the city of New York, it is manifest that the value or price of the logwood which forms the subject-matter of the dispute in this action, was a part of the claim of the plaintiff below in his suit against William Nott and John Parker, in that court. They sold the logwood to Samuel P. Morgan Sp Co., who shipped it on board of the barque Plercules consigned to C. Price <§■ Morgan at Philadelphia, who sold it again to the plaintiff in error.
Now, as the sale of the logwood by Nott and Parker at New Orleans, when, as is admitted by both parties, it was the property of Sylvester Pier, and avowedly sold by them as such, are facts alleged and admitted on both sides in this action, it necessarily follows, that on the trial of the cause in the Superior Court of the city of Neto York, either the authority of Nott and Parker to make this sale, and that they had faithfully accounted to Pier for the proceeds thereof, must have been established to the conviction of the court and jury, or otherwise, if made without legal authority, that they had satisfied Pier for his claim and loss of property in the logwood, in some way, so that he was not entitled to recover of them in that-action. And it appears to me, that being decided against Pier, on either of these grounds, he was thereby precluded from the further maintenance of
From the same cases, as well as others, it may be seen, that the plaintiff may frequently at his election, bring either trespass, trover, replevin, detinue or assumpsit, to recover compensation for the loss of his goods. Feltham v. Tyrrel, Lofft’s Rep. 207. 320. Lamine v. Dorrell, 2 Ld. Raym, 1216. Lindon v. Hooper, Cowp. 419. 20 Vin. Abr. tit. Trespass, page 540, and the cases there referred to. And if the plaintiff elects to bring an action of trespass or trover agaiust the defendant, who has sold his goods without authority, and obtains a
Neither is it material in such cases, that both actions were commenced on the same day, or at different dates, and were both pending afterwards, at the same time, and the action last brought, tried first, and judgment rendered in it; still the plaintiff will be bound by it, and be precluded from further maintaining the action first entered, and so vice versa. This was the case in Garvin v. Dawson, 13 Serg. & Rawle, 246, where the second action between the parties, commenced about one month after the first was tried, and a judgment rendered in it in favour of the defendant, which was afterwards held to be a bar to the plaintiff’s further maintenance of his first action. This is according to the rule, nemo bis vexari debet, which allows to every one the opportunity of having his complaint fairly investigated, and fully heard before the judicial tribunals of the state, but being once decided by the proper court, after such investigation and hearing, the peace and quiet of the community require that there should be an end of the dispute. If we disregard this rule, we have no other, and every controversy must become interminable.
From the views which I have taken of this part of the case, it appears to me, that the exemplification of the record of the Superior Court of the city of Mew York, was not only pertinent to the issue joined, and therefore admissible, but. would have been conclusive evidence against the plaintiff’s right of property to the logwood, had it been received, unless he had shown that the logwood for which he made a claim in that action, was not the same claimed in this, or that he had on the trial of that, withdrawn that part of his claim which consisted of the logwood. The defendant below in this action, pleaded property in the logwood, and the judgment of the Superior Court of the City of Mew York, showing that the plaintiff had been divested of his right to it, by a sale made thereof, under which the defendant below in this action, claims to derive his right, established greatly the most important link in the chain of his title. And although the judgment of the Superior Court of the city of New York, was rendered during thé pendency of this action, still I think is was not necessary to plead it, in order to make it admissible evidence, because it was, in effect, the decision of a competent court of concurrent jurisdiction, given in affirmance of the sale of the logwood, mentioned in the record of the judgment made by the defendants therein named, before the commencement of this action, under which the defendant here claims a right to the logwood. Neither do I conceive that it was necessary to plead it, in order to make it conclusively binding upon the jury against the plaintiff below; for if it was properly admissible under the plea of property, of which I entertain no doubt, as it went directly to establish the validity of the sale of the logwood, under which the defendant below claimed it, it being the judgment of a competent'
The propriety of those decisions which have admitted a judgment in a former suit, to be given in evidence to the jury on the trial of a second suit for the same cause, between the same parties or those claiming under them, but at the same time have held that the jury were not absolutely bound by such judgment, because it was not pleaded, may well be questioned. The maxim, nemo debet bis vexari, si constet curice quod sit pro una et eadam causa, being considered, as doubtless it was, established for the protection and benefit of the party, that he -may therefore wave it; and unquestionably, so far as he is individually concerned, there can be no rational objection to his doing so.. But then it ought to be recollected, that the community has also an equal interest and concern in the matter, on account of its peace and quiet, which ought not to be disturbed at the will and pleasure of every individual, in order to gratify vindictive and litigious feelings. Hence, it would seem to follow, that wherever on the trial of a cause, from the state of the pleadings in it, the record of a judgment rendered by a competent tribunal upon the merits in a former action for the same cause, between the same parties or those claiming under them, is properly given in evidence to the jury, that it ought to be considered conclusively binding on both court and jury, and to preclude all further inquiry in the cause; otherwise the rule or maxim, expedit reipublicce ut sit finis litium, which is as old as the law itself, and a part of it, will be exploded and entirely disregarded.
The fourth error is, that the court below refused to admit in evidence the exemplification, in connexion with the bill of particulars already set out verbatim. That the exemplification was admissible, has been shown ; but if it had not been admissible of itself, it is not easy to conceive how this writing, called “ a bill of particulars,” would have made it so. Indeed, without any proof having been given, or even offered, to show that this bill of particulars was made, and came from the plaintiff, Sylvester Pier, or from his attorney or his counsel, to William Nott, the defendant in the action, set forth in the exemplification, or to his attorney or counsel, before the trial of that action, in short, to show that it was genuine, and what it purported to be on its face, I am at a loss to conjecture upon what ground the counsel offering it in evidence, could have imagined that it was admissible, either conjunctively or separately. If such evidence, however, as I have mentioned, of its having come from the plantiff, his attorney or counsel, to the defendant in the action set forth in the exemplification, his attorney or counsel, before the trial of it, had been first given, or the court had refused to receive it when offered, it would have been error in the court below, not to have received such preliminary testimony, and after that, not to have received the bill of particulars itself in evidence, after the exemplification had been first read in evidence, or not to have admitted it in connexion with the exemplification. But without such preliminary proof being made, it was clearly not ad
The eighth and last, error, is, that the verdict is general for the plaintiff, giving the amount of damages, which the jury conceived the plaintiff was entitled to recover, without finding the value of the goods eo nomine, and damages separately besides for their detention, so that the judgment might have been rendered accordingly and for a return irrepleviable. Where the defendant in replevin claims property in the goods for which the writ is sued out, and gives bail to the sheriff, as was done in this case, the sheriff cannot replevy them. He is bound to take the bail if good, and to leave the goods in the possession of the defendant. The plaintiff must therefore count in the detinet, as the goods are not delivered to him, and if he succeeds on the trial in establishing his right of property to the goods, he “ shall have judgment to recover all in damages, as well the value of the goods as damages for the taking of them and his costs.” F. N. B. 69, L. and the cases referred to in note (c) 9th ed. Dublin, 1793. No judgment for a return of the goods is given in such case, but for damages equal in amount to the value of them, as a compensation for their loss, and the property in the goods is thereby transferred, as I have already said in another part of this case, to the defendant. The judgment rendered in this case is in the usual form. Gilb. on Replev. 125-6. Easton v. Worthington, 5 Serg. & Rawle, 131. Hosack v. Weaver, 1 Yeates, 478. Hardy v. Metzgar, 2 Yeates, 347. In those two last cases, the judgment in each was rendered in the same form in favour of the plaintiff, upon the plea of property, as in this. There is therefore no error in the form of entering the judgment here, but it must be reversed for the third error assigned.
.Judgment reversed and a venire facias de novo awarded.