Coburn v. Palmer
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Debt on a judgment rendered at the September term of the court of common pleas, 1847. The case was submitted to the court of common pleas, and by appeal to this court, upon an agreed statement of facts.
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Debt on a judgment rendered at the September term of the court of common pleas, 1847. The case was submitted to the court of common pleas, and by appeal to this court, upon an agreed statement of facts. The existence of the judgment was not disputed, but the defendant relied upon the following facts as a bar to the action: Execution was duly issued on said judgment, October 27, 1847, on which the defendant being arrested gave bond for the prison limits, duly approved by two justices of the peace and of the quorum, with one Isaac A. Chamberlain, as the only surety. The defendant did not…
1Opinion of the CourtMetcalf, J.
A commitment of a debtor in execution is, by the common law, a discharge of the judgment. And it is doubtful whether there were more than two exceptions to this rule of law; first, that of the debtor’s escape from prison, without the sheriff’s consent, and second, his obtaining, by fraud, the creditor’s consent to his release from prison. These two cases are admitted exceptions to the old common law rule. Com. Dig. Escape, E; Mounson v. Cleyton, Cro. Car. 240, *274255; Baker v. Ridgway, 9 Moore, 114; Little v. Newburyport Bank, 14 Mass. 443. But statutes were passed in England, in the reigns…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- King v. GoodwinMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1819
- Little v. President of Newburyport BankMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1817
- Appleby v. ClarkMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1813