Wesley C. Cook v. Brown
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort. The declaration alleged that the defendants, contriving to extort a pecuniary advantage from the plaintiff, and to compel him to do an act against his will, fraudulently induced him to come from the State of Rhode Island, where he lived, into this Commonwealth, within the jurisdiction of the Superior Court, so as to render himself amenable to its process, intending to arrest and imprison him when he did so come, and thereby compel him to settle a disputed claim; that,…
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Tort. The declaration alleged that the defendants, contriving to extort a pecuniary advantage from the plaintiff, and to compel him to do an act against his will, fraudulently induced him to come from the State of Rhode Island, where he lived, into this Commonwealth, within the jurisdiction of the Superior Court, so as to render himself amenable to its process, intending to arrest and imprison him when he did so come, and thereby compel him to settle a disputed claim; that, in pursuance of such fraudulent purpose, in anticipation of his coming, and when they knew he had not yet come, they…
1Opinion of the CourtLord, J.
It may be that, in this case, the plaintiff’s cause of action is defectively set out in his declaration; but no such objection is made to the declaration, nor is the sufficiency of the declaration in matter of form before us. The trial seems to have proceeded, and the rulings of the presiding judge made, upon the theory that matters which are alleged merely as aggravation of the injury were themselves the cause of action. The action is not an action for malicious prosecution, nor is it an action for false imprisonment, nor in any manner an action for abuse of lega process. The real cause of…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Wanzer v. BrightIllinois Supreme Court · 1869
- Phelps v. GoddardSupreme Court of Vermont · 1801
3Cited by4 opinions
- Sweet v. KimballMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1896
- Cummings v. HarringtonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1932
- Paine v. KelleyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1907
- Henry W. Savage, Inc. v. WheelockMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1918