Bank of Commerce v. Franklin

88 Ill. App. 198, 1899 Ill. App. LEXIS 519
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 4, 1900
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 88 Ill. App. 198 (Bank of Commerce v. Franklin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bank of Commerce v. Franklin, 88 Ill. App. 198, 1899 Ill. App. LEXIS 519 (Ill. Ct. App. 1900).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Shepard

delivered the opinion of the court.

The Barrett Manufacturing Company recovered a judgment before a justice of the peace, against Lesser Franklin, and on the same day swore out an execution. Such execution and an alias were, respectively, returned unsatisfied, and thereupon the Barrett Company sued out a garnishee process against the appellant as garnishee of Franklin.

Such proceedings were afterward had in the garnishment suit as resulted in a final judgment against appellant, and this appeal has followed.

The regularity of the justice’s judgment against Franklin is not questioned, but it is argued that the justice never acquired jurisdiction in the garnishment proceedings; and the contention is that because, as is said, the justice’s transcript does not show that the requisite statutory oath was made as a preliminary to the issuance of the execution • before twenty days had expired after the date of the judgment, the justice had no right or jurisdiction to issue such execution.

It was undoubtedly necessary to the validity of the subsequent garnishment proceedings, that an authorized execution should first issue and be returned unsatisfied. Such an execution and its return unsatisfied, form the essential basis for the beginning of garnishment proceedings.

The statute (Sec. 119, Chap. 79, entitled “ Justices and Constables,” Hurd’s Rev. Stat.) provides that no execution shall be issued upon a justice’s judgment in a civil action until after twenty days from the date of the judgment, “unless the party applying for the same, his agent, or attorney, shall make oath that he believes that the debt will be lost unless execution be issued forthwith. If such oath be made, then the execution shall be issued immediately and levied.”

With reference to the oath that was made, upon which the execution issued, the justice’s transcript shows as follows :

“ On oath of plaintiff’s attorney, execution ordered and issued to Constable Badger,” etc.
The argurnent is that because the transcript does not show what the oath was, but simply shows that “ on oath of plaintiff’s attorney ” the execution was ordered, the Cireuit Court had no right to assume that the oath referred to in the transcript was the oath prescribed by the statute; and it is said, “ the court can not be allowed to guess what oath the plaintiff took.”

We have lately had occasion, upon careful consideration and reference to authority, to decide some analogous questions. Subim v. Isador, 88 Ill. App. 96.

It here appearing from the justice’s transcript that an oath by a competent person was taken upon which the execution issued, and there being a manifest purpose by the justice to follow the law, evidenced by his requiring some oath to be taken, it is to be presumed in aid of the transcript (following the above cited case) that the oath prescribed by the statute to be taken was required by the justice to be made, and was made.

The next question is, what effect, if any, did the appeal by Franklin from the principal judgment against himself, have upon the garnishment proceedings %

Such appeal was perfected .by Franklin, May 18, 1897, to the Superior Court, where it remained pending until July 14, 1897, when it was dismissed, and a procedendo awarded and delivered to the justice.

The garnishee writ, returnable May 18, 1897, was issued and served upon appellant May 13, 1897. The appeal by Franklin was, as above shown, taken on the day the garnishee writ was returnable, and the justice thereupon, on that day, and repeatedly thereafter, so long as Franklin’s appeal remained undisposed of by the Superior Court, granted an order of continuance of the garnishee proceedings, from week to week,- the parties being always present. These' several orders of continuance, it is said, served to keep alive the garnishment proceedings, and it is urged, were entirely unauthorized and beyond the power and jurisdiction of the justice to make.

Besides the quoted part of Sec. 119, Chap. 79, supra, said section contains a provision that the issuing of an execution which may be sworn out within twenty days from •the date of the judgment shall not deprive either party of the right of appeal. It is also provided by section 115 of the same chapter:

“ When such appeal bond is filed with the justice it shall be approved by him, and he shall suspend all proceedings in the case, anil if execution shall have been issued he shall recall the same.”

And the argument is that because of such statutory provisions, all power of the justice in the garnishee suit ceased from the moment he approved the appeal bond; and that each and every time he entered said orders of continuance he violated the spirit and letter of the statutes, even though the only effect of such continuances was to keep' the garnishment proceedings alive pending the appeal.

Such contention would, if sustained, defeat every garnishment proceeding that might be begun in a justice’s court within the time an appeal may be taken from the original judgment, if such an appeal were perfected after the garnishment proceedings had been begun and the writ served.

The question is one of much importance collaterally and needs to be correctly determined.

Proceedings by garnishment, under our statute, are in their nature supplementary to the judgment against the judgment debtor, and there can be no recovery in them against the garnishee unless the judgment debtor might, himself, maintain an action at law against the garnishee for whatever it is the judgment creditor seeks to recover.

The garnishment proceedings when once begun constitute a suit—in a limited sense, perhaps, but nevertheless a suit— the course of which must, as regards the garnishee, be in accordance with the statute concerning garnishment.

“ The proceeding is tin effect a suit by the judgment debtor for the use of his creditor against the'garnishee, and, generally speaking, it may be maintained in all cases where an ordinary suit (at law) would lie against the latter in favor of the judgment debtor.” Bartell v. Bauman, 12 Ill. App. 450.

Section 7 of the garnishment act, and also section 88 of ■the justice’s act, expressly authorize a continuance of the garnishee suit for good cause. And inasmuch as there can be no proper final judgment against the garnishee in the absence of a judgment against the principal debtor (Merchant v. Howland, 46 Ill. App. 458), it would seem that the pendency of an appeal from the judgment rendered by the justice, upon the determination of which such judgment depends, constitutes good cause for a continuance of the garnishee suit from time to time, until the appeal shall be decided.

That is wrhat was done in this case, and we think it was rightfully done, unless the statute quoted, siopm, which provides for a suspension of all proceedings in the case upon the perfection of an appeal from the principal judgment, forbids it.

What, therefore, is meant by “ proceedings in the case,” which the statute says shall be suspended pending the appeal from the principal judgment ?

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Related

Signature Loan Corp. v. Walker
171 N.E.2d 681 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1961)
Snyder v. Powell
133 Ill. App. 393 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1907)
Bank of Commerce v. Franklin
90 Ill. App. 91 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1900)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 Ill. App. 198, 1899 Ill. App. LEXIS 519, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bank-of-commerce-v-franklin-illappct-1900.