Seaboard Air Line Railway v. Maxey

Citations

• 64 Fla. 487

Syllabus

<p>1. Judicial power to enter a judgment extends only to subjects over which the court or judge has jurisdiction; and a judgment entered in a judicial proceeding as to a subject not within the judicial power of the court or judge is a nullity.</p> <p>2. Costs properly incurred are an incident to a judicial proceeding and are not part of the damages claimed or demand or penalty being adjudicated; consequently costs do not affect the jurisdiction of the court.</p> <p>3. Where a statute requires a judgment to be entered for double the damages found to be due, the double damages constitute the demand or damages claimed.</p> <p>4. The amount of damages stated in the ad damnum clause of a declaration does not determine the jurisdiction of the court, when the real “demand or value of the property involved” otherwise clearly appears, and the ad damnum is in excess of the real demand.</p> <p>5. Where in an action for killing stock the demand for double damages under the statute “does not exceed $100.00,” the Circuit Court is without original jurisdiction.</p>