107 Ga. 139 | Ga. | 1899
The questions arising in this case grow out of a rule for the distribution of money. The rule was brought by the Brown, Bradbury & Catlett Furniture Company against the sheriff, and alleged that a certain fund was in the hands of the sheriff which had been raised by the sale of personal goods levied on by an attachment issued at the instance of the movant, and that movant had recovered a judgment against the defendant and was entitled to have the fund paid over to it. Pending this rule Moore, administrator of Jackson, intervened and set up the fact that he had caused to be levied a distress warrant on the goods, which had been sold by order of the court, and the proceeds were in the hands of the sheriff for distribution ; that the movant had no valid lien upon the goods nor the fund in the hands of the sheriff, because of the fact that the attachment sued out by movant had never been levied on the goods. He traversed the entry of levy of the attachment, and alleged that certain liens of laborers had been foreclosed, and that his lien on the fund was superior to those of the laborers. He waived discovery from all of the parties, and prayed that the court would award him the fund in preference to the movant or the laborers. The court ruled that the affirmative of the issue and the burden of proof was upon Moore, administrator. To this ruling he excepted.
Tested by these rules, we are of the opinion that the levy of the attachment was a good and sufficient seizure of the property. The presiding judge, to whom questions of fact were submitted, so found. Some of the witnesses testified that the sheriff having possession of the attachment, accompanied by the attor-* ney for the plaintiff in attachment and another person, went to the Jackson Hotel for the purpose bf levying the attachment on the furniture contained in that hotel; that on their arrival there, the manager of the hotel, the person in charge of the property and furniture, wras informed that the officer had come for the purpose of making a levy on the articles described in the attachment; a list of these articles, which consisted mainly of household furniture, was read over to the manager, and he was asked if they were in the building; the manager replied that all the articles were in the building; that there was in his sight, at that time, the dining-room furniture, the office furniture, all of which was described; that the hotel had three entrances, and that the office in which they stood, and the space in front of it, were the only method of ingress and egress to the hotel; just in front of the office was the stairway leading to the floors above, and an elevator. When the officer had explained to the manager the purpose for which he had come, the manager asked if the matter could not be held up until he could see his attorney; he was informed it could not be done unless the manager agreed to hold the property for the sheriff. After such agreement, according to these witnesses, an entry of-levy
We have not, of course, attempted to refer to all of the evidence. On some points it was conflicting. It was the province of the trial judge, to whom the facts were submitted, to judge this evidence; and he having determined the levy of the attachment to be good, and the evidence to which we. have referred being sufficient to sustain that finding, we think with him that the acts of the officer, thus detailed, constituted such
Judgment affirmed.