Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

22 Tex. 54

Brown v. Torrey

Texas Supreme Court

Decided July 1, 1858

Texas Supreme Court · decided 1858-07-01

<p>This court can only revise the judgments of the District Court, for errors apparent upon the record.</p> <p>It cannot, therefore, act upon a question of fact, such as the death of one of the parties previous to the judgment in the court below, presented for decision, for the first time, in this court, by affidavits.</p> <p>If the fact be as alleged, the remedy is in the District Court that rendered the judgment, and not by writ of error to this court.</p>

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1858-07-01

How this case has been cited

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently July 1966

6 state decisions

30185818601870188018901900191019201930194019501960decided

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.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Wheeler, Ch. J.

¶1The plaintiff in error seeks to reverse the judgment, on the ground that one of the plaintiffs below was dead at the date of its rendition, and submits to this court affidavits to prove the truth of this assignment of error. But the fact of such death does not appear by the record. It was not suggested, or otherwise brought to the notice of the court below; and nothing can ba more perfectly clear, than that this court can only revise the judgment of the District Court, for errors apparent upon the record. To entertain the question of fact for *55decision, for the first time, in this court, as a ground for reversing the judgment, would be plainly violative of the constitution, which confers upon this court, in reference to the judgments of the District Court, appellate jurisdiction only. This is a court strictly of appellate jurisdiction, and cannot, therefore, take cognizance of questions of fact affecting the judgments of the District Court, which have not been presented to that court for adjudication. The plaintiff in error has plainly mistaken his remedy. If the fact be as alleged, his remedy is in the District Court that rendered the judgment, and not by a writ of error to this court. (Weaver v. Shaw, 5 Tex. Rep, 286.) This case is plainly distinguishable from those in which affidavits have been received by this court, upon the question of its own jurisdiction. (Harris v. Hopson, 5 Tex. Rep. 529; Dial v. Rector, 12 Tex. Rep. 99; Martel v. Hernsheim, 9 id. 294.) The judgment is affirmed.

¶2Judgment affirmed.

/22/tex/54 · .json · Public domain