33 Iowa 579 | Iowa | 1871
I. It is claimed that there is no affidavit of
verification;. that the petition is not sworn to as the law requires; and that the certificate is insufficient under section 2913 of the Revision. Way v. Lamb, 15 Iowa, 82. If it should be conceded that all these defects exist, still there was no error in the action of the court directing an amendment in these respects. That the petition was sworn to is clearly established. The defect urged is not that the petition was not verified, but that it was not verified strictly in the manner required by law. The objection goes to form rather than to substance. “ The attachment law shall be liberally construed, and the plaintiff, before or during trial, shall be permitted to amend any defect of form in the affidavit, bond, attachment, or other proceeding.” Rev., § 3242. See, also, Wadsworth v. Wells, 13 Iowa, 576 ; Bunn v. Pritchard, 6 id. 56 ; Graves v. Cole, 1 G. Greene, 405 ; Langworthy v. Waters, Hughes & Co., 11 Iowa, 432.
No authority is conferred upon the circuit court to use the seal of the district court in authentication of writs issued from the circuit court.
The seal of the district corn’t had no greater effect in giving validity to the writ of attachment in this case than the seal of a private corporation, or a notary public, or any other seal which the clerk had no authority to use would have had. The case stands then as though no seal had been used. A writ of attachment without a seal is invalid, and the defect is of such a nature that it cannot be cured by amendment. Foss v. Isett, 4 G. Greene, 76. The corn't erred, therefore, in overruling the motion to discharge the attachment, and in permitting the amendment of the writ by attaching the seal.
For this cause the judgment must be reversed. It’ becomes unnecessary to determine the authority of Dun-ham to serve the writ.
Reversed.