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6 Wend. 367

Lewis v. Palmer

New York Supreme Court

Decided January 15, 1831

New York Supreme Court · decided 1831-01-15

This was an action of trespass de bonis asportatis, tried at the Allegany circuit in October, 1829, before the Hon. Addison Gardner, one of the circuit judges. Various articles of the plaintiff’s property were sold by Benjamin, a constable of Allegany county, by virtue of an execution in favor of Palmer, issued by Wadsworth, a justice of the peace, on a judgment rendered by him in favor of Palmer against the now plaintiff and another person.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1831-01-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 10 later decisions — most recently July 1927

5 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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¶1By the Court,

Savage, C. J.

¶2In my opinion the judge' did not err in refusing to direct the acquittal of the defendant Wadsworth, for the purpose of having him sworn as a witness. The error, if any, was in charging the jury that enough had not been shewn to render him liable.. When the first execution was paid, the judgment was satisfied, and the justice had no more jurisdiction to issue a new execution than if no judgment had ever been entered. 5 Wendell, 240. He was probably deceived by the false representation of Palmer, but that does not excuse him from liability to the injured party. (The execution was not merely voidable, but absolutely void.) It was his duty to issue an execution ; this he had done, and he acted at his peril in issuing a second execution upon the suggestion of Palmer that the first was lost or destroyed.

¶3There was no error in the direction given to the jury to find the value of the hay. It was not necessary that it should be removed to constitute a trespass. Assuming control over another’s properly is a trespass. The act of selling the hay *369without authority was a trespass. The justice, who issued the execution without authority, and the plaintiff, who procured it to be issued after his debt had been paid, were responsible for the injury sustained by the plaintiff.in this cause; but the officer, who acted by virtue of process regular upon its face, issued by a magistrate who had jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the process of execution, was justified in proceeding to execute it. It is the duty of a constable to execute process regular upon its face, and within the legitimate power of the officer issuing it, without first inquiring into the regularity of the previous proceedings. This subject has been recently under the consideration of the court, and received a full discussion by Justice Marcy, in the case of Savacool v. Boughton, 5 Wendell, 170.

¶4I am of opinion that a new trial be granted ; costs to abide ábe event

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