103 Ga. 706 | Ga. | 1898
It appears from the record, that the defendant, about the time of the alleged service, resided with his son-in-law and daughter upon the second floor of a building in the city of Augusta. The ground floor of this building consisted of two stores, one of them occupied by Reeves, the son-in-law, as a drug-store, and the other used by another person as a jewelry-store. Between the two stores was a stairway leading from the street to the second floor of the building, where defendant resided. There was no way to enter any of the apartments of the second floor through either of the stores. Service was attempted to be made by the sheriff by leaving a copy of the petition and process with Reeves in the drug-store. The return of service by the sheriff was traversed by the defendant; and, upon the above-stated facts, together with others not here material, the jury, under instruction of the court, found in favoi of the return of the sheriff, — that is to-say, that a proper service had been made. A motion for a new trial was made by defendant, and overruled by the court.
Section 4985 of the Civil Code, in relation to service of process, requires that the copy of petition and process be served personally upon the defendant or by leaving it at his residence. We think that the service shown to have been made in this case was not sufficient to meet the requirements of the code. The copy was not served upon the defendant personally, nor was it left at his residence. Leaving it with his son-in-law, in
Judgment reversed.