Josuez v. Murphy

6 Daly 324
CourtNew York Court of Common Pleas
DecidedFebruary 7, 1876
StatusPublished

This text of 6 Daly 324 (Josuez v. Murphy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Josuez v. Murphy, 6 Daly 324 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1876).

Opinion

RoBinson, J.

The cause of action upon which plaintiff relied upon allegations in her complaint and proof adduced by [326]*326her on the trial, was the institution by her in the Marine Court, of an action against one Francis Everaert, to recover possession of certain personal property, the issuing with her summons in that action, of a requisition to the defendant, then one of the marshals of the city, directing him to take said personal property and deliver it to the plaintiff; the taking by him of part of the property; the making by him of an affidavit that part of the property, of the value of §250, had been removed, secreted or disposed of by said Everaert, so that he (the defendant) could not take or find the same,” and upon his affidavit, together with the affidavit of the plaintiff, that an order of arrest was thereafter duly granted by a justice of this court, directing the defendant, as such marshal, to arrest the said Francis Everaert, and hold him to bail. The complaint further alleged the capture of Everaert, and the taking from him, in lieu of custody of his person, of an undertaking, with but one surety, conditioned for his appearance to render himself amenable to the process of the court; the exception thereto, and the notice to defendant thereof, and his failure to cause any justification to be made; also, the adjudication of the court in that action, that such bail was not proper bail, and that defendant Murphy was liable as bail, and the complaint alleged defendant’s neglect to retake said Everaert into custody; that she proceeded in the action, and recovered judgment against Everaert for the possession of all said property, and if recovery were impossible, for its assessed value at $250 and $164 30 costs; and that execution upon such judgment was returned wholly unsatisfied, and the property returned unfound. The allegations as to the institution of plaintiff’s action, the issuing of the summons and requisition to the defendant; his inability to find a part of the property, and his making an affidavit to the effect stated, and the granting thereon and of the plaintiff’s affidavit of the order to arrest Everaert and hold him to bail, in the terms of the allegation above quoted, were admitted by the answer. Defendant, however, in his answer, qualifiedly denies- that he ever arrested Everaert on said order, or took from him such- undertaking, or that he thereupon released said Everaert, but alleges that what was done in that respect was done in his absence be[327]*327tween one Lyst, then in his place of business, and an occasional employee, and the attorneys of the respective parties in that action, prior to Everaert’s surrender; but he alleges that the bonds so taken did comply with all the requirements of the order of arrest. The other allegations of the complaint are substantially denied. On the trial, the only testimony offered by plaintiff, was directed to the matters first above stated. The undertaking so taken was introduced in evidence, and was only conditioned that Everaert should render himself amenable to the process of the court during the pendency of the action, and to any such as might be issued to enforce the judgment therein. The certificate of the defendant was indorsed thereon to the effect that the defendant in that action had been held to bail by him in pursuance of the order of arrest issued to him. The judgment finally recovered against Everaert as alleged, and execution issued thereon, and its return as alleged in the complaint, were also proved. Plaintiff here rested, and defendant moved a dismissal of the complaint, on the ground of no cause of action established; that no order of arrest was produced or proven, and that the proof was inconsistent and at variance with the plaintiff’s cause of action set out in the complaint. This motion was granted, and the complaint dismissed. That judgment has been affirmed by the general term of the Marine Court, and its merits are now under review. The allegation in the answer, that the undertaking was in conformity to the order of arrest, and the denial of its character or terms, as otherwise alleged in the complaint, required its production, if anything was claimed in respect to it beyond what was deducible from the admission or statement as to its terms in the answer, which was, simply, that the order of arrest was in the sum of $350, and required that Everaert should at all times hold himself amenable to the process of the court. Whatever may have been the merits of plaintiff’s application in her action against Everaert for an order of arrest, the defendant in this action, as marshal, to whom it was delivered for execution, was only subjected to such duty as it specifically required. If simply to arrest the defendant, and hold him to bail in a certain sum, that duty was fulfilled on taking ordinary bail in [328]*328an undertaking that defendant “should at all times render himself amenable to the process of the courtbut if it exacted anything else, it seems clear, on principle, that such requirement should be specially indicated and made part of the order or warrant of arrest. The arrest authorized by section 179 of the Code, subdivision 3, is for the eloignment of personal property, to recover possession of which the action is brought, and for wrong done after its commencement, and the right to such arrest of a defendant, is dependent on the occurrence of the circumstances specially stated by affidavit, showing that such property, or some part thereof, “has been concealed, removed or disposed of so that it cannot be found or taken by the sheriff, and with the intent that it should not be found or taken, or with the intent to deprive the plaintiff of the benefit thereof,” and the bail to be required is not that called for in cases embraced within the other subdivisions of section 179, “that the defendant shall at all times render himself amenable to the process of the court during the pendency of the action, and to such as may be issued to enforce the judgment therein,” but requires security “to the effect that the sureties are bound in double the value of the property [claimed], as stated in the affidavit of the plaintiff, for the delivery thereof to the plaintiff", if such delivery be adjudged, and for the payment to him of such sum as may for any cause, be recovered against the defendant.” The authority of the sheriff or marshal to arrest and detain the defendant until he shall give the proper bail, is thus entirely different, in the case provided by subdivision 3, from such as is to be exercised under the other subdivisions of § 179, and it would seem, on general principles, upon which the power to' order an arrest may be issued by any officer, and the sheriff or bailiff can proceed to execute it, that the order of arrest should, on its face, disclose the grounds of the authority under which the power to issue it was to be exercised, and what specific character of bail should be exacted, and that such indication should be given by and stated in terms in the order, so that the officer executing it should have special warrant for exacting other than ordinary bail. In the conflict of authority between the general term of the Supreme Court, 3d judicial district, in Tracy v. [329]*329Veeder (35 How. 209), and Tracy v. Griffin (50 Barb. 70), and that of the Superior Court of this city, in Elston v. Potter (9 Bosw.

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Related

McNeil v. . the Tenth National Bank
46 N.Y. 325 (New York Court of Appeals, 1871)
Tracy v. Griffin
50 Barb. 70 (New York Supreme Court, 1867)
Watson v. McGuire
2 Daly 219 (New York Court of Common Pleas, 1867)

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Bluebook (online)
6 Daly 324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/josuez-v-murphy-nyctcompl-1876.