5 Watts 183 | Pa. | 1836
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
'The plaintiffs below seem to have entertained the opinion that they had a claim upon the fund or money in the hands of the defendant below, for their compensation on account of services rendered in the line of their profession. In this, however, we think that they were entirely mistaken. The clerk of the court, and the sheriff of the county, in such cases, have certain specific fees allowed by act of assembly for their respective services; and the administrator of the intestate, making the sale in pursuance of the decree of the
In regard to the instruction of the court to the jury after the evidence was heard, we also think there was error, in leaving it, as a matter of dubious fact to the jury, to be decided by them, whether the defendant below had employed the plaintiffs or not, and that if he did, they might recover. This, we think, was wrong, because there was really no evidence given in the cause, which tended, in the slightest degree, to prove the affirmative of this question. Whether any such evidence was given or not, was a matter proper for the court to have decided, and they ought to have decided it in the negative. I will close by observing,‘that the circumstance of the jury having found a verdict in this case for the plaintiffs below, evinces, very clearly, how essential it ■ is to the administration of justice, that the rule which prohibits the admission of irrelevant or immaterial evidence, should be strictly adhered to; and that the court should never submit it to the jury to find that a fact is so, without some evidence tending to prove it.
The judgment is reversed,