Lawson v. Main
Supreme Court of Arkansas
Motion in Pulaski Circuit Court, against James Lawson, jun., sheriff of Pulaski county, determined in November, A. D. 1841, before the Hon. John J. Ceenbenin, one of the Circuit Judges.
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Motion in Pulaski Circuit Court, against James Lawson, jun., sheriff of Pulaski county, determined in November, A. D. 1841, before the Hon. John J. Ceenbenin, one of the Circuit Judges. On the 8th of June, 1841, William Main sued out of Pulaski Circuit Court an alias fi. fa., against Jefferson Smith, on a judgment for $101, damages and costs, on which Lawson, the sheriff, returned that he levied it on two negroes, which were appraised at $300, and certain lots, valued at $2000, and also on 20 promissory notes, signed by three other persons, for $81 25 each; that the property and notes were…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court,
Lacy, J.
The question presented by the record is an important one, and we have maturely considered it. It resolves itself simply into this inquiry: Can the return of the sheriff be contradicted or disproved by extraneous evidence, introduced by himself? No proposition, to our minds, can be clearer than that it cannot. This rule is fully supported by authority; and the reason, justice, and necessity of it can, in no case whatever, be questioned. The return of the sheriff is an official, ministerial act, and forms a part of the record of the Court, which can neither be impeached nor…
2Cited by2 opinions
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