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19 Ala. 216

Smith v. Wiley

Supreme Court of Alabama

Decided January 15, 1851

Supreme Court of Alabama · decided 1851-01-15

ERROR, to the Circuit Court of Perry, Tuts ,was an action of debt instituted by Wiley against the plaintiffs in error.

Relies on Tenison v. Martin

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1851-01-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently December 1887

4 state decisions

201851186018701880decided

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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CHILTON, J.

¶1Tbe only question for our consideration is, whether there was such a want of conformity between the writ and declaration, as to justify the court in rejecting the latter. It was said in Sexton v. Roane, 1 Ala. 830, that the design of the Legislature, in requiring the cause of action to be endorsed upon the writ, was to apprise the defendant of the matter in controversy, so that he might not be taken on surprise, &c.— We think there could have been no surprise -in this case. The suit by the plaintiff below was brought in his individual capacity, and the writ and declaration agree as to the character in which he sues. The cause of action as endorsed -on the writ substantially agrees with that described in the count; at all events, there is not such a radical departure or variance, as under our decisions, authorized the court to reject the declaration. -See Tenison v. Martin, 13 Ala. 27, and cases cited. Whether .the bond declared on is not assets of the estate of Smith, is a question which cannot be presented in this way, and one which we do not now decide.

¶2The judgment of the Circuit Court, reversing the judgment -of the County Court, must be affirmed.

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