121 A. 885 | Conn. | 1923
The trial court held that the instant case is governed by the decision in Ahern v. Purnell,
Our statute above referred to requires, in the first instance, a valid seizure of the property; second, due service upon the defendant of a copy of the process with a description of the property attached in the officer's certificate; third, a return of the process to court with a like description of the property attached in the return as certified. All of these elements are prerequisites of a valid attachment. Passing by the first, compliance with which in the present case is doubtful, we find the second and third steps were not taken, except as to the property described in the original return. *377 The description of the property attached in any given case is termed an inventory. In the present case he made no inventory of any property beyond that described in the original return, he had no inventory, he never saw an inventory, he took no property except that described as aforesaid, he removed no property, and did nothing in the way of posting notices in the manner provided by statute as an alternative for removal. All that appears in the finding on appeal, is that he intended to attach some property, just what he did not know. He would have had to give further attention to listing the property proposed to be attached before service and return of the process, had he not taken the bond and released the property that he actually had attached as described in the original return. He should have had an attachment perfected so far as to be in a position to exactly describe the property before taking the bond, both for his own protection and that of the surety on the bond. He had gone no further in his efforts to attach than to make a seizure, if indeed his dealing with the property not included in the original return can be deemed a seizure. Assuming that there was a seizure, he had performed only one of the three requisites of a valid attachment; the other two above noted were just as vital.
Amendments can only be allowed where all of the steps to be pursued have been taken, but some error in detailing them has supervened. Two cases in which amendment of an officer's return has been allowed have been brought to our notice by applicant's counsel, but in both of them the acts before stated to be essential had been taken, but the return failed fully to correctly state them. In Palmer v. Thayer,
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.