Smith v. McGregor

10 Ohio St. (N.S.) 461
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided November 15, 1860·Published

Opinions

Peoic, J.

It appears from the agreed ease that, before and at the commencement of the several suits in replevin, the property in and right to the possession of the hogs in controversy, were in thé plaintiff; and he may well maintain the present action unless that property and right were divested by the proceedings in those replevin suits. In those suits the plaintiffs therein claimed the general property and right of present possession to the hogs then and now in controversy, and after seizure, executed a bond under the statute to the defendant, who also claimed to be general owner, in double the appraised value; whereupon the hogs were delivered to the plaintiffs, and *werc by them subsequently sold to the defendant in this action. The jury, upon the trial of the replevin suits, found the right of property and of possession, at the commencement of said several actions, to have been in the defendant, and found verdicts in his favor for the full value of the hogs, upon which judgments were rendered. Those judgments are still un[379]*379satisfied, and, owing to the insolvency of the plaintiffs and their sureties, altogether valueless.

The present plaintiff insists that nothing less than payment or-satisfaction of those judgements could divest his property in the hogs replevied ; while it is claimed, on the part'of the defendant, that the giving of the bond for double the appraised value of the-property replevied, followed by a delivery of the hogs to the plaintiffs in replevin, and the rendition of judgments in favor of the defendant in said actions, for the full value of the hogs, did, under the statute, and as between the parties to the suit, divest the-defendant of his property in the hogs.

The action of replevin, as regulated by our statute (Swan’s Stat. of 1841, p. 784), differs essentially from the English action of replevin, and that of most of our sister states, and it is evident, that but little light can be cast upon the question, by reference to the-decisions of other states, based as they are upon statutory provisions- and rules of practice materially variant from ours.

In tho case of Jennings v. Johnson et al., 17 Ohio, 154, it was held by Reed, J., that the bond, as between the parties to the suit, “ takes the place of the property to the extent of the interest of the defendant in replevin;” and this holding is cited arguendo and with approbation, in Williams v. West, 2 Ohio St. 87, by Thurman, J. Upon the authority of these cases it was also-decided by Gholson, J., in 1 Handy’s Sup. Ct. 512, that the delivery of the property replevied, under the statute, to the plaintiff in replevin after bond given, invested him with the property and full power to sell and dispose of it at pleasure, and thereby *to confer a valid title upon the purchaser. But it is said, that the-rulings stated in 17 Ohio, and in 2 Ohio St., wore not necessary to a determination of those cases, and that they are, therefore, the mere dicta of the judges who uttered them. To a certain extent this may be true, but they are nevertheless entitled to great respect, and have been regarded by most if not all the inferior courts, ever since their promulgation, as determining tho effect of the statutory bond in our action of replevin—that, as to tho defendant in replevin, the bond is substituted for the property, and he must thereafter look to that alone for remuneration. And is not this a just construction of tho peculiar provisions of the act regulating actions of replevin above cited, when considered with reference to those principles of public policy, which attach to the [380]*380•possession and transmission of personal property, oftentimes of a perishable nature and designed for-present consumption, or expensive to keep and preserve, and imperatively requiring that the jus ■disponendi should at all times reside somewhere, and not be suspended for an indefinite period ? Upon filing the requisite affidavit, the property is taken from the possession of the defendant by ■the officer, who is required forthwith to ascertain the value of the property replevied, by the oath of two or more disinterested persons, and if bond with surety and conditioned as the statute re-quires, is given within twenty-four hours from the seizure, he is to deliver the property to the plaintiff in replevin; but if no such bond is given within that period, he is to redeliver the property to the defendant from whom it was taken. This bond is not conditioned for the restoration of the property to the defendant in any event; but ■simply that the plaintiff will prosecute his suit to effect and pay all ■costs and damages that may be awarded against him (in that suit). The plaintiff does not then stipulate that he will restore the property if the right thereto is determined against him, nor is the court authorized, upon such a finding, to enter % judgment for a return of the property. The only verdict which the jury can render, if the right of property is found to be in the defendant, is one for the value of the property as damages, and the only judgment ■the court can pronounce is for the recovery of the damages so found by the jury. It is clearly the policy of the law, for the reasons in part already adverted to, that there should always be some one ■•capable of transmitting the title to personal propei-ty to such as may desire to purchase it; and the case before us affords an apt illustration of the wisdom and policy of the rule. In August, 1849, the hogs were replevied, and, within twenty-four hours thereafter, the bond was given and the hogs delivered to the plaintiff in replevin; but the right of property in the hogs at the commencement ■of the action, was not determined for nearly three years thereafter, and from our experience in the law’s delay, the final determination of such controversies is frequently much more protracted. Now .the plaintiff claims that during all this period, that is from the commencement until the final termination of the action of replevin, no person had the legal right to sell and dispose of the hogs. The defendant in replevin certainly could not do so, and he claims that the plaintiff became and was the mere custodian of the property, but without any legal power or right to alienate it. The agreed [381]*381case shows that the hogs were fattened and fit for slaughter in November, 1849; and it is manifest that the hogs could not have been kept for even one year without great loss to some one, and, if •kept until the termination of the suit, the expense would have been, ruinous. And the propriety of the rule of public policy is still more apparent if applied to a replevin of articles of provision, which rapidly deteriorate by lapse of time, such as potatoes, fruit, etc., etc. Is it not. apparent that the construction given by th e Supreme Court under the ■ old constitution- and affirmed by that organized under the new, as to • the peculiar provisions of our act regulating actions of replevin, is the *true one—one which conforms to the language employed and the proceedings prescribed, while, at the same time, it consists with public policy as to the transmission of personal estate? We-think so; and were the question a new one, should now give to it. substantially the'same construction. If there is a dispute as to the; title to articles of personal property, and the party not in possession asserts his right to it in an action of replevin, then for a brief period,, at most but twenty-four hours, the jus disponendi is suspended, and then vests in the party to whom the properly is delivered.

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Smith v. McGregor, 10 Ohio St. (N.S.) 461 (Ohio 1860).

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