Chandler v. Rutherford

101 F. 774, 43 C.C.A. 218, 1900 U.S. App. LEXIS 4469
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit·Decided April 16, 1900·No. No. 1,313·Published·Cited by 30 cases

Opinion

THAYER, Circuit Judge,

after stating the case as above, delivered the opinion of the court.

' It is now well settled, although the proposition was at one time disputed, that the sureties on the official bond 'of a marshal, sheriff, con[777] stable, or other ministerial officer may be held liable when the officer having process in his hands commanding him to seize the property of one person in fact seizes the properly of another. In -such cases the trespass is not the act of a more individual, but is perpetrated colore officii, and for that reason the act imposes a liability on the officer’s sureties to the same extent as when, having a writ in his hands, he fails to execute it, or makes an excessive levy, or is guilty of some other wrongful or oppressive act in the execution of the process. Lammon v. Feusier, 111 U. S. 17, 21, 4 Sup. Ct. 286, 28 L. Ed. 337, and cases there cited; People v. Schuyler, 4 N. Y. 173; Holliman v. Carroll’s Adm’rs, 27 Tex. 23; Carmack v. Com., 5 Bin. 184; Forsythe v. Ellis, 4 J. J. Marsh. 299. But when an officer assumes to act under color of his office, having no writ or process whatsoever, or having process which on its face is utterly void, it seems to be the prevailing doctrine that whatever he may do under such circumstances imposes no liability on Ms sureties. To constitute color of office such as will render an officer’s sureties liable for his wrongful acts, something else must be shown besides the fact that in doing the act complained of the officer claimed to be acting in an official capacity. If he is armed with no writ, or if the writ under which he acts is utterly void, and if there is at the time no statute which authorizes the act to he done without process, then there is no such color of office as will enable him to impose a liability upon the sureties in his official bond. Thus, where a constable, by representing that he had an execution in his hands against the plainti ff, when he had no such execution, succeeded in collecting from the plaintiff a certain sum of money, it was held that the constable’s sureties were not liable. Com. v. Cole, 7 B. Mon. 250. And where a sheriff claiming to have an execution in his hands, but having no such process, sold lands, and received the proceeds, Ms sureties were held to be exempt from liability. Eaton v. Kelly, 72 N. C. 110. And where a warrant was issued to arrest certain unknown persons, their names not being specified in the writ, and an arrest was made thereunder, it was held that the warrant was void, and that the act of the officer imposed no liability upon his sureties. Allison v. People, 6 Colo. App. 80, 39 Pac. 903. And where an officer goes outside of the line of his official duty, and acts without the scope of his authority, such an act, though done colore officii, is not a breach of his bond for the faithful performance of his duty. State v. McDonough, 9 Mo. App. 63. See, also, Hawkins v. Thomas, 3 Ind. App. 399, 29 N. E. 157, and cases there cited, where it was held that when an officer, though he assumes to act as such, commits a wrong under circumstances where the law does not impose on him a duty to act at all, the wrong is not a violation of any official duty, and is not embraced within the sponsorship of the surety. In the case at bar the complaint shows that at the time of the attempted arrest of Flave Carver the marshal’s deputy had no warrant for the arrfest of any one, and no warrant had in fact been issued on account of the supposed offense, but a statute of the state of Arkansas (Mansf. Dig. § 2002) was in force in the Indian Territory, which is as follows:

“A peace officer may make an arrest: First, in obedience to a warrant of arrest delivered to liim. Second, without a warrant where a public offense is-[778] committed in liis presence or where he has reasonable grounds for believing-that the person arrested has committed a felony.”

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Chandler v. Rutherford, 101 F. 774, 43 C.C.A. 218, 1900 U.S. App. LEXIS 4469 (8th Cir. 1900).

101 F. 774 (Chandler v. Rutherford) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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