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14 Johns. 481

Wheeler v. Lampman

New York Supreme Court

Decided October 15, 1817

New York Supreme Court · decided 1817-10-15

IN ERROR, on certiorari to a justice’s court. The defendant in error brought an action, in the court below, the plaintiff in error, by summons, which was returned by one De Grote, who is stated to be a constable, in these words; J b 56 personally, as the law directs, by. me, S* De GroteS* The cíefendant below, by his attorney, appeared on the return of the for the purpose of objecting to the constable’s return, and the objection was made and overruled, by the justice, who…

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1817-10-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 8 later decisions — most recently March 1897

8 state decisions

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Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Per Curiam.

¶1e Two exceptions are taken to the justice’s return: 1. That the constable’s return to the summons was insufficient; and, 2. That there was no proof that the bill was a forgery.

¶2As to the first point. The statute requires, “ that the serving such summons, shall, upon the oath of his office, thereupon the time and manner he executed the same, &c.” The appearance of the plaintiff below, merely for the purpose of making the objection, was not a waiver of the irregularity of the return, and as the statute is peremptory that the time when the summons is served shall be returned thereupon, its injunc-tions must be obeyed. If the defendant below, had waived the irregularity by pleading to the declaration, without objeefing to the return, it would have been too "late to make the objection now. There is a good reason for holding a constable to a strict compliance with the terms of the statute in this respect. Iiis *486return is not traversable, and he is liable to an action for a pa]se returtl) jf the summons has not been served six days previous to the return day. The defendant, therefore, has a right, to demand that the constable shall specifically state the time when the summons was served.

¶32. There is very little, if any, evidence that the bill was a forgery, and the justice seems to have founded his opinion on this point, upon his own inspection of it. He does not say that the proof satisfied him; and it is to be presumed he would not be willing to say so. He had no right to give judgment upon proof of this nature, and the'judgment must, therefore, be reversed.

¶4Judgment reversed.

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