Cushing v. Laird

6 F. Cas. 1017, 4 Ben. 70
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided February 15, 1870·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

BUATCHFORD, District Judge.

The attachment of credits and effects in the bands of a garnishee may be made, without actual levy on or arrest thereof, by the service on .the garnishee of a notice apprising him of what the process demands, and for what cause, and warning him of the time and place when he must appear before the court and respond concerning the existence of such credits and effects and their status.. Ben. Adm. § 430; Conk. Adm. 481. In this case, the third process contains such a notice on the face of it. The service of the process on Foster and Thomson was, therefore, a service of such notice, and such service constituted a sufficient attachment of any credits and effects in their hands belonging to the respondent. The return of personal service on Foster and Thomson, on the third process, implies that the service on them was made in the manner in which it ought to have been made, namely, by the exhibition of the process to them, and the delivery of a copy of it to them. But the marshal had no authority by the process, which follows, in its terms* the prayer of the amended libel on which it was issued, and the provisions of the 2d rulp-of admiralty practice, prescribed by the supreme court, to attach the goods and chattels of the respondent unless he failed to find the respondent within his district, so as to cite him to appear, nor had he any authority to attach the credits and effects of the respondent in the hands of the garnishees named in the process, unless he failed to so find the respondent and also failed to find sufficient-goods and chattels of the respondent to be attached. Conk. Adm. 4S0. Assuming that the marshal did not, on the third process, find the respondent or find any goods or chattels of his to be attached, the return to such process should have been, that the defendant was not found and had no goods or chattels within the district, and that the marshal had, therefore, attached his credits and effects in the hands of the garnishees named, by taking possession of such credits and effects, or by showing to the garnishees the original process, and delivering a copy thereof to them personally, or by leaving a copy thereof at the residence or usual place of business of the garnishees, with some person of suitable age, they being absent. Id. 4S3; rale 30 of this court; rule 37 in admiralty, prescribed by the supreme court. So, also, the returns to the first two processes should have been, that the respondent was not found, and had no goods and chattels within the district, and that, therefore, his credits and effects were attached in the hands of the garnishees. It is not shown, in point of fact, by the garr nishees, that the respondent was found or that he had any goods and chattels within the district which could have been attached; and, if the facts existed, which, in the case of each process, made the attachment of credits and effects proper, the returns can all of them be amended to conform to the facts, and to show proper cases for the attachment of credits and effects.

An objection is taken to the first two pro? cesses, because they do not on their, faces [1019]*1019contain a citation to the garnishees. I do not think that is necessary. The attachment of tlie credits and effects in the hands of the ■garnishees may be made, as before stated, by actual levy on or arrest thereof, or by notice. The notice need not be in the process. But the return should show how the attachment was made. Inasmuch as, in the first two processes, there is no citation to the garnishees, the returns to those processes should show that the notice before specified was given to the garnishees. It results, that the •returns to all of the processes fail to show that the attachments of the credits and effects were lawfully 'made. The processes are in proper form. The motion on the part •of the garnishees is understood to be a motion to discharge all of the attachments made under all of the processes. As the difficulty may be in the returns on the processes, and not in the substantive facts, and as the notice of motion does not state the grounds for the motion, an opportunity will be allowed to amend the returns. If they shall not be amended within a time to be named in the order to be entered hereon, the attachments of credits and effects made under the processes will be discharged.

In accoi’dance with the foregoing decision the returns were, amended as follows: To the process returnable September 22d, 186S, the libellants filed, on the 11th of December, 18G0, an amended return, in the words and figures following: “Pursuant to an order made and entered in this cause, on Saturday, the 27th day of November, A. D. 1869, I hereby make the following amended return •to the within process, viz.: Respondent not found within this district: no goods or chattels belonging to respondent found within this district. I have, therefore, attached the credits and effects of the respondent in the hands of Foster & Thomson, his garnishees, on the 10th day of September, 1868, by exhibiting to J. P. Girard Foster, one of said garnishees, the original process, and leaving with him, at the office of said garnishees, at No. GO Wall street, in the city of New York, a copy thereof; and I have also attached the credits and effects of-the respondent in the hands of H. H. Van Dyck, assistant treasurer of the United States, in the city of New York, by exhibiting to him the original process, and leaving with him a copy thereof, at his office, in the U. S. treasury building, in said city of New York. Dec. 10, 1869. It. Murray, late U. S. Marshal, S. D. N. Y.” To the process returnable November 3d, 1886, the libellants filed, on the 11th of December, 1809, an amended return, in all respects like the foregoing amended return to the process returnable September 22d. 1868, except that, instead of the words “tlie Kith day of September. 1868.” the words “tlie 20th day of September. 1868,” were used. To the process returnable .Tune loth, 1868, the libellants filed, on the 7th of December, 1869, an amended return, in all respects like the foregoing amended return to the process returnable September 22d, 1868, except that, instead of the words “the 10th day of September, 1868,” the words “the lS.h day of May, A. D. 1869.” were used; and, instead of the words “Dec. 10, 1809,” the words “Dec. 7, 1869,” are used; and instead of the words “U. Murray, late U. S. Marshal, S. D. N. Y.,” the words “Francis C. Barlow;, late U. S. Marshal, S. D. N. Y.,” were used. The returns having been thus amended, tlip garnishees renewed their motion to discharge tho attachments as against them.

BLATCHFORD, District Judge.

It is objected to these amended returns, or new returns, that they appear, on their faces, to have been made 'by Mr. Murray and Mr. Barlow respectively after they had respectively ceased to hold the office of marshal; that the power of the marshals to make return to the processes expired whan they ceased to hold the office of marshal; that the processes appear to have been executed and returned before the amended returns were made; and that the amended returns are invalid, for want of power to make them in the persons who purport to have made them. It was assumed, and not eoutroverted, on the hearing of the motion, that Mr. Murray and Mi. Barlow had respectively returned the processes, by the several original returns, before they ceased respectively to hold the office of marshal.

The 28th section of the act of September 24, 17S9 (1 Stat SS).

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Cushing v. Laird, 6 F. Cas. 1017, 4 Ben. 70 (S.D.N.Y. 1870).

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