Avery & Ensign v. Babcock

Citations

• 35 Ill. 175

Syllabus

<p>1. Judgments — their requisites. In a judgment for money, the sum must be specified in words or figures, with some mark or character designating the precise sum.</p> <p>2. A judgment rendered by a police magistrate was as follows: “On day of trial, suit called, defendant appeared and acknowledged the above amount correct. Judgment is therefore rendered against H. T. Avery and G. D. Ensign for the sum of 383.18 debt, and 2.39 costs.\ The caption to this judgment stated the demand to be 11383.18.\ Held, that the judgment was insufficient under the above rule. Whether the figures “383.18 ” were intended to represent that number of American, English or German coins, is left entirely to conjecture.</p> <p>3. Limitations—when the statute begins to run. The statute of limitations, which requires a writ of error to be sued out within five years from the time a judgment was rendered, only commences to run from the date of the judgment brought under review.</p> <p>4. So, where a transcript of a judgment rendered by a police magistrate was filed in the Circuit Court, upon which an execution was issued and a sale had, a motion was entered in the Circuit Court to set aside the sale and quash the execution, upon the ground of the alleged insufficiency of the judgment. That motion was denied; and within five years after the overruling of this motion, but more than five years after the original judgment was rendered, the defendant sued out a writ of error for the purpose of bringing in review the judgment of the Circuit Court in refusing to allow the motion. Held, that the statute of limitations did not commence to run from the time of entering the original judgment by the police magistrate, but only from the entry of the judgment in the Circuit Court refusing the motion, that being the judgment brought in review by the writ of error.</p> <p>5. Error or appeal—from what judgments they will lie. The judgment on the motion was such an order as may be reversed or affirmed, on error