Johnson v. Randall

Decided March 15, 1811

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1811-03-15

The writ in this case was a scire facias commenced in the Court of Common Pleas, praying for an execution upon a recognizance, entered into by the original defendant to the plaintiff before a justice of the peace, conditioned to appear in the Municipal Court, and there to answer to the plaintiff, on a charge of being the putative father of her bastard child. The writ alleges that the defendant was called to appear at the Municipal Court, but made default.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1811-03-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently March 1934

6 state decisions

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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¶1At an adjournment of this term, holden on the 29th of July, the opinion of the Court was delivered to the following effect by

Parsons, C. J.

¶2The point made by the defendant’s counsel came before us, in the case of Merrill vs. Prince, (2) at the last term in Cumberland; and the Court were clearly of opinion that a justice could only bind the putative father to answer by requiring a bond from him, and not a recognizance. That case will be reported, with the reasons at large of the opinion of the Court.

¶3The statute mentions a bond as .the security to be given by the putative father. And when the condition of a bond [ *342 ] * is broken, the Court may relieve against the penalty upon equitable terms; but not against a recognizance, if it be forfeited. It is our opinion that in this case the demurrer must prevail, and the declaration be adjudged bad and insufficient for the plaintiff to maintain his action.

¶4Costs for the defendant.

¶5 Vide post.