De Courcey v. Cox

Citations

• 94 Cal. 665
• 30 P. 95
• 1892 Cal. LEXIS 742

Syllabus

<p>False Imprisonment — Commitment for Refusal to Return Money Overpaid — Liability of Justice — Judgment on Pleadings.—A complaint in an action against a justice of the peace, which alleges that the plaintiff was arrested upon a warrant issued by the defendant npon a complaint charging the plaintiff with refusing to return a sum of money claimed to have been overpaid her, and further alleging a conviction and the issuance of a committal by the defendant, and her imprisonment thereon, shows that the plaintiff was charged with the commission of an act which did not constitute a crime, and states a cause of action against the defendant for false imprisonment, and a motion for judgment for defendant on the pleadings should be denied.</p> <p>Id. — Commitment without Jurisdiction — Charge of Act not Criminal — Trespass. — To justify an inferior magistrate in committing a person, he must have jurisdiction both of the subject-matter of the complaint and of the person of the defendant, and where the defendant is charged with the commission of an act not constituting a crime, a justice of the peace acquires no jurisdiction to proceed in the matter, and if he attempts to enforce any process of commitment in such case, he is answerable to the defendant as a trespasser.</p> <p>Id. — Honesty of Purpose Ho Defense.—Honesty of purpose, while it may mitigate damages, cannot justify a clear usurpation of power by an inferior magistrate who has no jurisdiction of the subject-matter. Judgment on Pleadings — Demurrer — Inconsistent Rulings — Irregularity— Review upon Appeal. —The granting of a motion for judgment upon the pleadings, on the ground that the complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, after the overruling of a demurrer based on that ground, is not a reversible error, but is an irregularity which should be avoided; but where the demurrer was properly overruled, and the motion improperly granted, the judgment will be reversed.</p>