Russell v. Perry
Superior Court of New Hampshire
Trespass, for taking and carrying away a quantity of hay, at Cabot, in Vermont. Plea, the general issue, and a brief statement.
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Trespass, for taking and carrying away a quantity of hay, at Cabot, in Vermont. Plea, the general issue, and a brief statement. It was agreed that the hay was taken by one Joseph Preston, a deputy sheriff for the county of Caledonia and State of Vermont, on the 4th day of April, 1840, on an execution duly issued by the defendant on a judgment rendered by him as a justice of the peace for said county, on the 1st day of February, 1840, in an action Fisher vs. Russell, in due course of law. The defendant was duly commissioned and authorized to act as a magistrate, and the plaintiff admitted that…
1Opinion of the CourtGilchrist, J.
It would seem that at common law no person could sit in the trial of a cause, who had any interest in it. In Hesketh vs. Braddock, 3 Burrow 1847, the judgment of the portmote court of the city of Chester was reversed, because the sheriff and jurors were interested in the case. The objection was not taken that the judgment was void, but Lord Mansfield said that there was no principle in the law better settled than that the smallest degree of interest in the question depending was a decisive objection to a witness, and much more to a juror. Although a judge or magistrate is not in terms…
2Cases cited10 opinions
- Elliott v. Lessee of PeirsolSupreme Court of the United States · 1828
- Rose v. HimelySupreme Court of the United States · 1808
- Savacool v. BoughtonNew York Supreme Court · 1830
- Pearce v. AtwoodMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1816
- Putnam v. ManNew York Supreme Court · 1829
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3Cited by3 opinions
- Sanborn v. FellowsSuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1851
- MacFarlane v. SmithDistrict Court, D. New Hampshire · 1996
- State v. RichmondSuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1853