83 N.W. 18 | N.D. | 1900
Plaintiff was in possession of certain lands and certain buildings thereon under a contract with defendant, who was the owner of the land. Disputes arose between them as to the possession and right of possession of certain of the buildings and certain land. These disputes reached the stage of personal violence, and, as the record shows, defendant threatened plaintiff with great damage to his person and property if he (the plaintiff) persisted in his claims of possession. Plaintiff' brought an action in equity to reform the contract under which he held, and thereby settle these aggravated differences. The court, in the main, held with plaintiff, and reformed the contract, and fixed the rights of the respective parties thereunder. That holding was affirmed by this court. See Merchant v. Pielke, 9 N. D. 182, 82 N. W. Rep. 878. The decree in that case directed that the defendant should
The first and most difficult point presented by the appeal concerns the appealability of this order. Respondent contends that the contempt charged is a criminal contempt, and hence appellant has no interest in the subject-matter that gives him any standing in an appellate court. We cannot concede this. Our Revised Codes (section 5934) define civil contempts as follows: “Every court of record has power to punish by fine and imprisonment, or either, a neglect or violation of duty or other misconduct by which a right or remedy of a party to a civil action or proceeding pending in th'e