McCullough v. Stanton Construction Co.

35 Pa. D. & C.2d 421, 1964 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 231
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cambria County
DecidedDecember 31, 1964
Docketno. 327
StatusPublished

This text of 35 Pa. D. & C.2d 421 (McCullough v. Stanton Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cambria County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCullough v. Stanton Construction Co., 35 Pa. D. & C.2d 421, 1964 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 231 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1964).

Opinion

McWilliams, J.,

This is a writ of certiorari directed to Domenick Gelotte, a Justice of the Peace of the Borough of Nanty-Glo, upon the application of defendant, Stanton Construction Company, by its attorneys, Franke, Ayres, Hager and Kuyat.

Defendant filed two exceptions to the record of the justice of the peace and the judgment entered by him, the first of which is as follows:

“1. The transcript shows that the cause of action is trespass on the case and not trespass vi et armis and under the common law and the statutory law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a Justice of the Peace does not have jurisdiction on a cause of action in trespass on the case.”

[423]*423The transcript shows that judgment was rendered March 14,1964, in favor of plaintiff and against Stanton Construction Company, defendant, in the sum of $30.03 and costs. The order for supersedeas with cash bond was filed March 31, 1964, and the transcript of the justice of the peace was filed April 27, 1964, pursuant to writ issued March 31, 1964. The transcript states:

“And now March 14th 1964 the hour for the hearing having arrive, plaintiff appear but defendant not present, Alvin McCullough, plaintiff being sworn and testified, stating that on the 3rd day of March 1964, while driving on Lincoln section in the Borough of Nanty Glo Pa., unexpectly, the front part of his vehicle dropped in a trench previously excavated and consequently refilled by the Stanton Construction Company, or a sewer line for the Borough of Nanty Glo Pa. of which said trench, evidently was not compacted, and that there was no warning of such imminent danger.
“And deponent further say that his vehicle was damaged to the extent of $30.03, and that two estimates of the damage made by two competent and bonafied garage men, and that the lowest estimation for said damage being as above stated, and that he personally took and delivered the two estimates to the office of the above mentioned defendant located in Nanty Glo Pa. but received no consideration, and after hearing all the evidence on part of the plaintiff, and after a carefull consideration, and as defendant not appearing to answer the summons, I concluded that this defendant, by his gross negligence, did contributed totally to the accident of which could have been much worse, therefore, under such circumstances, I give judgment, publically, in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant for the amount of $30.03 and all the cost accrued in this case.”

[424]*424It is very apparent that the above matter is trespass on the case and not trespass vi et armis. Plaintiff, Alvin McCullough, in this case, was the owner and operator of the automobile damaged and he brought this action in his own name. The negligence of defendant corporation was its agents or workmen failing or omitting to perform a duty, i.e., in failing to level and fill properly that part of Lincoln Section (Street) after excavating for a sanitary sewer system and in failing to give a warning of the imminent danger.

Case is distinguished from trespass in definition quoted by Judge Carr of Fayette County in Sellers vs. Rugh, 88 Pitts. L. J. 535 (1940), as follows:

Lord Justice Fortescue in Reynolds v. Clark 1 Stra. 636 (1725), stated:

“If a man throws a log into the highway and in that act hits me, I may maintain trespass, because it is an immediate wrong; but if, as it lights there, I tumble over it and receive an injury, I must bring an action upon the case because it is only prejudicial in consequence.”

Judge Cleland, of the Supreme Court of Australia in Hiller v. Leitch, S. A. R. 490, (1936), stated:

“ (1) Where an act is done by the defendant negligently and which is in itself an immediate injury to another’s person or property, the action is trespass, and not case; (2) where no act is done but the negligence consists only of an omission, or where the act done is not immediately injurious, the action is case, and not trespass; (3) although the act of negligence is of such a nature that if it had been done by the defendant personally trespass would lie, trespass will not lie if the act of negligence has been committed by the defendant’s servant; in such case the action is trespass on the case, and not trespass.” (Italics supplied.)

Therefore, by virtue of the damages being consequential and the indirect consequence, i.e., not im[425]*425mediate: Hill v. Township of Tionesta, 129 Pa. 525 (1888); and because defendant is a corporation and plaintiff’s claim would go to defendant’s employe’s negligence causing damage: Lamparter v. Conestoga Transportation Company, 28 D. & C. 635 (Lancaster County, 1936); this action is unquestionably one in case and not vi et armis. And we therefore conclude the facts presented before us definitely show an action in trespass on the case.

This raises the question of whether a justice of the peace has jurisdiction in an action in trespass on the case. This is an old chestnut in Pennsylvania jurisprudence. A justice of the peace has no jurisdiction in actions of trespass on the case. This applies to common law and present statutory law, including The Motor Vehicle Code.

First, let us look at why a justice of the peace can not at the present time entertain jurisdiction over an action which at common law would have been an action of trespass on the case. We must necessarily review legislative and case history.

The Act of March 22, 1814, P. L. 190, 42 PS §331 (1814), gave justices of the peace some jurisdiction over ex delicto actions. It provided:

“The justices of the peace ... of this commonwealth . . . shall have jurisdiction of actions of trover and conversion, and of actions of trespass brought for the recovery of damages for injury done or committed on real and personal estates in all cases where the value of the property claimed or the damages alleged to have been sustained shall not exceed one hundred dollars.”

When this statute was enacted, trespass and trespass on the case were two entirely different forms of action, so courts had no difficulty in distinguishing the two or of construing each separately, although the rationale for arbitrarily excluding actions of trespass [426]*426on the case is not manifest in court decisions or statutes: 64 Dickinson Law Rev. 157.

It is clear that the Act of March 22, 1814, 6 Sm. L. 182, 42 PS §331, as enlarged and affected by the Act of July 7, 1879, P. L. 194, 42 PS §241, when using the term, “Actions of Trespass” in conferring jurisdiction on justices of the peace and aldermen, meant an action to recover damages sustained by plaintiff as the immediate consequence of some wrong done forcibly to his person or property by defendant. Under these acts the aldermán had jurisdiction only in trespass vi et armis and not in trespass on the case: Battles v. Nesbit, 149 Pa. Superior Ct. 113, 116.

The Act of 1879 enlarged the jurisdictional amount to $300, and the courts interpreting this act did not hesitate to hold that an action of trespass on the case was not within the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace: Wilcox v. Fowler, 2 Chest. 497 (1884); Township of Moreland v. Gordner, 109 Pa. 116 (1885).

The Act of May 25, 1887, P. L.

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Related

Paulson v. Eisenberg
4 A.2d 585 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1938)
Battles v. Nesbit
27 A.2d 694 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1942)
Township of Moreland v. Gordner
109 Pa. 116 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1885)
Hill v. Township of Tionesta
19 A. 855 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1889)
Sprout v. Kirk
80 Pa. Super. 514 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1923)
Birkhead v. Ward
35 Pa. Super. 235 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1908)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
35 Pa. D. & C.2d 421, 1964 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 231, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccullough-v-stanton-construction-co-pactcomplcambri-1964.