Hagerty's Case
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
CERTIORARI to the common pleas of Butler county. Alexander Hagerty petitioned the court for leave to prove a parol contract with Patrick Hagerty, in his lifetime, for the sale of a tract of land. The court appointed a commissioner to take the testimony, which established clearly a parol gift of the land by a father to his son, accompanied by a delivery of possession and valuable improvements made by the son. The court adjudged the proof to be sufficient.
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CERTIORARI to the common pleas of Butler county. Alexander Hagerty petitioned the court for leave to prove a parol contract with Patrick Hagerty, in his lifetime, for the sale of a tract of land. The court appointed a commissioner to take the testimony, which established clearly a parol gift of the land by a father to his son, accompanied by a delivery of possession and valuable improvements made by the son. The court adjudged the proof to be sufficient. The questions which arose in the court were: 1. Whether the proceedings were legally removable by certiorari? 2. Whether the circumstances…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Sergeant, J.
—The power of the supreme court, in a case like the present, to issue a certiorari to the court of common pleas, and remove their proceedings for the purpose of inquiring whether they have exceeded their jurisdiction, cannot be doubted. If that court could assume a jurisdiction not given to them by the laws, and no superintending authority to restrain them existed, the consequences would be exceedingly mischievous. Under the provisions of the constitution and acts of assembly, such authority has been uniformly exercised by the supreme…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Commonwealth v. BeaumontSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1834
- Sims v. HamptonSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1815
- Commonwealth ex rel. Wilson v. Fourteen HogsSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1823
- Overseers of the Poor v. SmithSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1816
3Cited by2 opinions
- Chess's AppealSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1846
- Meanor v. M'KowanSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1842