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1 Greene 492

Temple v. Carstens

Supreme Court of Iowa

Decided June 15, 1848

Supreme Court of Iowa · decided 1848-06-15

Error, to Muscatine District Comt. This was an action of assumpsit, commenced by the defendants in error against the plaintiffs, Nicholas Temple and Henry Funk. The summons was served upon Funic only, and the declaration subsequently filed excluded Temple as a party ; but judgment by default was rendered against both of them.

Relies on Columbia Turnpike Road v. Haywood · Presbrey v. Williams · President of the Portland Bank v. President of the Maine Bank

Decided 1848-06-15

¶1Opinion by

Hastings, C. J.

¶2It appears by the' record and proceedings in this case, that Nicholas Temple, one of the defendants below, was not served with summons or other process.

¶3It also appears that ten days did not elapse, between the date of the service of summons upon Henry Funk, and the • return day.

¶4The second section of the statute regulating practice, (Rev. Stat. p. 468,) provides that “ it shall be the duty of the sheriff, or coroner, to serve, all process of summons or capias, when it shall be practicable, ten days before the return day thereof,” &c.

¶5The summons was served on the 10th day of June, and the 20th day of June was the return day. To make this service ten days before the return day, it will be necessary to include the day of service; and the question presented by the assignment of errors is, ought that day to be so included? As the law knows no fraction of a day, (11 Mass. 204,) the day of service must be included in the computation. Not to compute that day would require service of more than ten days, which would violate the rights of the plaintiff', and the numerous decisions on the subject of computing time. They seem to establish a rule of computation in favor of the *494plaintiff in the process, that the day on which the act was done, as the service of process, should be included.1 3 Halst. 303; 15 Mass. 193.

¶6Time is to be calculated one day inclusive, and the other exclusive. Hoffman v. Duel, 5 John. 232; Pallard v. Yoder, 2 A. K. Mars. 264; Day v. Hall, 7 Halst. 203; 10 Wend. 422 ; 3 Cowen, 19. If the legislature had intended that the defendant should have a service of ten full days before the return day, it should have been so stated. The day of the service will therefore be included, and there is no error as averred, in that particular.

¶7But the judgment in this case was rendered against Temple, who was not served with process, and who was not a defendant in the declaration; the judgment, therefore, of the district court will be reversed, and case remanded.

¶8Judgment reversed.

¶9 See Dilts v. Zeigler, ante, 164.

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