Barron v. Dent

Citations

• 17 S.C. 75
• 1882 S.C. LEXIS 49

Syllabus

<p>1. Qutzre: Will the filing of tbe original proceedings before a trial justice-in the clerk’s office make the justice’s judgment a judgment of the Circuit Court ?</p> <p>2. A transcript of a valid judgment only of a trial justice can be filed in the office of the clerk of the Circuit Court; where the trial justice never acquired jurisdiction of the defendant, his judgment is a nullity, and so-is the transcript.</p> <p>3. Endorsement of service of summons, unsigned and unproven, is not evidence of service, even if written by the trial justice himself.</p> <p>4 An indorsement by the trial justice upon the summons, showing ai taxation of costs for “hearing, examination of witness, and subpoena,” does not warrant an inference that the defendant appeared in the case.</p> <p>5. The Circuit judge, upon an inspection of a trial-justice’s book of civil' cases, seeing that it contained only entries of indorsements upon the-original papers, which were already in evidence, rejected the book as-testimony. In this there was no error.</p> <p>6. Parol testimony is inadmissible to prove that a defendant in a trial-justice’s court appeared at the trial and defended. Service of the defendant, or his voluntary appearance, can be shown only by the original’ papers, or by the book which the law requires the trial justice to keep.</p>