6 Iowa 456 | Iowa | 1858
— Plaintiffs were entitled to judgment upon the verdict, as returned in the first instance by the jury. The Code provides that, when by consent, the jury have been permitted to seal their verdict, and separate before it is rendered, such sealing is equivalent to a rendition and recording thereof in open court; and that “the jury shall not be polled, nor shall they be permitted to disagree thereto, unless such a course has been agreed upon between the parties.” The verdict may be general or special, in actions for the recovery of money, or specific real or personal property — must be in writing, filed with the clerk, and entered upon the record, after having been put in form by the court, if necessary. The form is sufficient, if it expresses the intention of the jury. Sections 1785, 6, 9 — 90.
It is not required that the verdict shall be signed, whether rendered in open court, or sealed and handed to the. clerk. If this verdict had, therefore, been returned when the court was in actual session, it must have been sufficient ; and the plaintiffs could properly have insisted upon their right to a judgment for the amount thus found. The jury, however, by agreement, sealed their verdict, handed it to the clerk, and separated. This was equivalent to the rendition and recording thereof in open court. The jury could not afterwards be polled, nor be permitted to disagree, for this right was not reserved by the agreement of the parties.
It is said, however, that neither party objected to sending the jury out the second time, and that it was too late for plaintiff afterwards to insist upon their right to a judgment. It seems to us, however, that this failure to object, should not be construed to extend beyond its legitimate purport and meaning, and that it would be thus extended, to say that plaintiffs were concluded thereby, from subsequently moving for judgment upon the verdict. The most that their failure to object can mean, in our opinion, is, that they were willing that the jury should retire to
The judgment is reversed, and cause remanded with instructions to enter judgment upon the verdict.