Runnells v. Fletcher
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
This was an action of debt on the statute of 1795, c. 44, § 6, to recover of the defendant, a deputy sheriff of the county of Kennebeclc, the sum of 30 dollars, for wilfully and corruptly demanding and receiving of the plaintiff a greater fee than by the said statute is allowed, for the service of an execution against him, in favor of one Edward Swan, for the sum of 20 dollars 16 cents.
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This was an action of debt on the statute of 1795, c. 44, § 6, to recover of the defendant, a deputy sheriff of the county of Kennebeclc, the sum of 30 dollars, for wilfully and corruptly demanding and receiving of the plaintiff a greater fee than by the said statute is allowed, for the service of an execution against him, in favor of one Edward Swan, for the sum of 20 dollars 16 cents. On trial, before Thatcher, J., it appeared that the sum of 9 dollars 59 cents was received by the defendant, in addition to the amount of the execution — which exceeded the legal fees thereon by the sum of 8…
1Opinion of the Court
Curia.
To subject an officer to the penalty prescribed by the statute, it must be proved that the sum, alleged to * have been extorted, was demanded as a fee for some official duty. He must have wilfully and corruptly demanded and received other or greater fees than the law allows.
*467By the facts reported in this case, if any offence has been committed, it is not against the statute on which the action is brought, but must be extortion at common law. (a) The excess demanded was not as and for fees of service, but as a compensation for labor and trouble attending a supposed injury which happened…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Commonwealth v. ShedMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1804
- Dunlap v. CurtisMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1813
3Cited by12 opinions
- United States v. Joseph FischerCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 2023
- Hanley v. StateWisconsin Supreme Court · 1905
- State v. . PritchardSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1890
- United States v. Thomas RobertsonCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 2023
- Cleaveland v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1859
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