Bartlett v. Mugett

27 N.Y.S. 56, 75 Hun 292, 82 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 292, 56 N.Y. St. Rep. 771, 23 N.Y. Civ. Proc. R. 288
New York Supreme Court·Decided January 18, 1894·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

LEWIS, J.

The plaintiff brought his action in the justice’s court in Cattaraugus county, and claimed in his complaint, for his first cause of action, that the defendant was indebted to him for work and services in pressing into bales 280 tons of hay at the agreed price of $1.75 a ton, and that there became due to him therefor $490; that the defendant had not paid any part thereof, except the sum of $300; and that there remained due, on account thereof, the sum of $190. For Ms second cause of action he alleged that the defendant was indebted to him in the sum of $39.02 for goods, wares, and merchandise sold and delivered to the defendant, and that the defendant had paid thereon the sum of $40, thereby slightly overpaying the same. He demanded judgment against the defendant for $188.04, with interest thereon from the 1st day of December, 1892. The defendant interposed an answer, admitting that the plaintiff pressed a quantity of hay for him at the price stated in the complaint, but that the amount was less than 280 tons, and that he had paid the plaintiff, to apply thereon, divers sums of money, amounting, in all, to $340; and for a further answer alleged that the plaintiff was justly indebted to him for goods furnished, and upon mutual dealings between the parties, in the sum of $110, which was pleaded as a counterclaim, and demanded judgment against the plaintiff for $110. The issue being thus joined, the defendant thereupon moved for a discontinuance of the action on the ground that it appeared from the pleadings that the sum total of the accounts and demands of both parties in dispute exceeded the sum of $400, and the justice, against the objections of the plaintiff, granted the motion, and dismissed the case, and entered judgment against the plaintiff for costs. The plaintiff served a notice of appeal from the justice’s judgment to the county court of Cattaraugus county, and in said notice demanded a new trial in that court. The defendant thereupon moved the county court for an order dismissing the appeal on the ground "that the justice had no jurisdiction, and could not take cognizance of the action, for the reason that the sum total of the accounts of both parties, proved to the satisfaction of the justice, exceeded $400.” The motion was granted, and an order entered, dismissing the appeal, and from such order the plaintiff appealed to this court.

The justice unquestionably erred in dismissing the action, as it will be seen by an examination of the pleadings that the sum total of the accounts of both parties in dispute did not exceed $400. They, in fact, amounted to just $298.04. The justice had no authority to dismiss the action until it was made to appear to Mm by proof that the amounts in dispute exceeded his jurisdiction. It [58] is provided by subdivision 4 of section 2863 of the Code of Civil Procedure that “where in a matter of account the sum total of the accounts of both parties, proved to the satisfaction of the justice, exceeds $400.00, the justice cannot take cognizance of the action.” He is not ousted of jurisdiction because the amount claimed in the pleadings may exceed that amount. If that were the case, the defendant in every case could oust the justice of jurisdiction by setting up in his answer a claim for more than $400, no matter how fictitious the claim might be. The Code requires, before he shall dismiss the action, that he shall be satisfied by evidence. Parker v. Eaton, 25 Barb. 122; Glackin v. Zeller, 52 Barb. 147; Bailey v. Stone, 41 How. Pr. 349. In the absence of any proof in the case, the defendant’s counsel succeeded in inducing the justice to dismiss the action solely upon what he claimed appeared upon the face of the pleadings, and, as we have seen, the pleadings failed to show that the amount involved was beyond the jurisdiction of the justice.

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Bartlett v. Mugett, 27 N.Y.S. 56, 75 Hun 292, 82 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 292, 56 N.Y. St. Rep. 771, 23 N.Y. Civ. Proc. R. 288 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1894).

27 N.Y.S. 56 (Bartlett v. Mugett) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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