Williams v. Powell
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort for assault and false imprisonment. At the trial in the superior court, before Lord, J, the following facts were admitted by the defendant or proved by the plaintiff.
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Tort for assault and false imprisonment. At the trial in the superior court, before Lord, J, the following facts were admitted by the defendant or proved by the plaintiff. On June 19, 1868, the defendant, who was an insurance broker, held under a lease, and was occupying for the purposes of his business, an office in a building situated on Court Street in Boston, and was permitting Charles G. Keyes, an attorney at law, to use a portion of the office, with his desk and law books, under a paroi license, for a stipulated monthly sum, payable in advance, and paid by Keyes up to July 1. The…
1Opinion of the CourtGray, J.
The evidence in this case wholly fails to support the charge of assault or false imprisonment. An officer has no right to make use of the tenement of one person to keep goods, attached on a writ against another, for a longer time than is reasonably necessary to remove them. Rowley v. Rice, 11 Met. 337. What is reasonable time, when depending on undisputed facts, is a question of law. Spoor v. Spooner, 12 Met. 285. Pratt v. Farrar, 10 Allen, 521. Five hours of daylight were clearly more than a reasonable time to remove an attorney’s desk and law books of not more than two hundred dollars in…
2Cited by23 opinions
- Barrie v. QuinbyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1910
- Wood v. GravesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1887
- Markus v. Boston Edison Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1944
- Cutter v. HoweMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1877
- American Steam Gauge & Valve Manufacturing Co. v. Mechanics Iron Foundry Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1913
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