Mestling v. Hughes

Citations

• 89 Ill. 389

Syllabus

<p>1. Practice—affidavit of merits—applies to suit on appeal bond. The statute requiring the defendant to file an affidavit of merits with his pleas in any suit upon a contract for the payment of money, when the plaintiff shall have filed with his declaration an affidavit of his demand, its nature and amount, etc., embraces a suit upon an appeal bond, it being a contract for the payment of money.</p> <p>2. Evidence as to amount of damages on default—affidavit of claim. A plaintiff in a suit upon an appeal bond can not recover alone upon the appeal bond, without evidence of the amount of his damages; and the affidavit of the plaintiff’s claim, filed with his declaration, is not competent evidence on the assessment of the damages. The statute makes it evidence only when the suit is upon an open account, and not when it is upon a written contract.</p>