21 Wend. 156 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1839
By the Court,
The commission, I am of •opinion, was improperly admitted. The statute, 2 R. S. 394, i 14, prescribes that the officer settling the interrogate
This is a statute proceeding, innovating upon the common law rules of evidence, and must be. strictly 'Complied with. Without the direction.provided for by the act, 1 do not see how a return can be legally made at all.; for in the absence of it, there is no mode recognized by the law. The commission would be nugatory in this respect. But it is clear, that the relurn by mail is admissible only by the permission ef the officer, in the exercise of his discretion. The statute puts it upon this footing in express terms.
New trial granted.