Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Company v. Trustees of Sixth Presbyterian Church

• Decision Date: 01 October 1875
• Citation: 23 L.Ed. 260,91 U.S. 127
• Parties: BALTIMORE AND POTOMAC RAILROAD COMPANY v. TRUSTEES OF SIXTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

91 U.S. 127

23 L.Ed. 260

BALTIMORE AND POTOMAC RAILROAD COMPANY v. TRUSTEES OF SIXTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

October Term, 1875

ERROR to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.

Mr. Daniel Clarke and Mr. Wayne MacVeagh for the plaintiff in error.

The court declined hearing Mr. James A. Garfield and Mr. R. D. Mussey for the defendant in error.

Mr. JUSTICE CLIFFORD delivered the opinion of the court.

Compensation was claimed in this case by the Trustees of the Sixth Presbyterian Church of this District for injuries occasioned to their real property by the railroad company; and they made application to a justice of the peace in and for the District, representing that the railroad company 'have laid their tracks and are now running their trains along Sixth Street and in front of the property of said church, and have built and now occupy and use a depot building upon said Sixth Street and in the near vicinity of said church, to the great damage of the same.'

Pursuant to that application the magistrate to whom it was addressed issued a warrant to the marshal of the District, commanding him to summon a jury of twenty citizens of the District, possessing the qualifications therein described, to meet at said church building on the day therein named, to proceed to value, in accordance with law, the damages which the said church organization has sustained in consequence of the things done as aforesaid by said company.

Two objections to the warrant were filed with the marshal by the railroad company: (1.) That the warrant requires the jury to value damages for cause which are not authorized by law. (2.) That the form of the oath administered to the jury is not correct.

Enough appears to show that the objections did not prevail, and that the inquisition was taken; the jurors being first sworn by the marshal that they would truly and impartially assess the damages, if any, the applicants may sustain by the laying of the track along Sixth Street by the railroad company; and that the jury assessed the damages sustained by the applicants, by reason of the railroad company laying their track along Sixth Street, at the sum of eleven thousand five hundred dollars. Due return of the proceedings was made by the marshal, in which it also appears that both parties met at the time and place appointed, and that the marshal duly certified the warrant and inquisition to the Supreme Court of the District, as required by law.

Two days later, the railroad company moved the court to quash the warrant and set aside the inquisition for the reason following: (1.) Because the warrant required the marshal to summon a jury to assess damages not authorized by law. (2.) Because the warrant required the marshal to summon a jury to assess damages for the running of the company's trains along Sixth Street and in front of the property of the church, and for having built and now occupying and using a depot building in the near vicinity of the church. (3.) Because the return of the marshal shows that he did not administer to the jurors the oath required by law. (4.) Because the marshal permitted evidence to go to the jury to show that the property had been damaged by the use and occupation of the track by the railroad company, and by the smoke and noise arising from such occupation. (5.) Because the jury, in assessing the damages, did not confine their inquiries to the question of appreciation and depreciation of the value of the property by reason of the laying of the track along Sixth Street.

Pending that motion, the plaintiffs suggested to the court that the law required that the inquisition should be confirmed at the session of the court held next after the same was filed, and moved the court that the cause be placed upon the calendar, and stand for hearing; and the court granted the motion, and placed the case on the trial-calendar. Four days afterwards, the plaintiffs moved the court to confirm the award of the jury; and on the same day the defendants moved the court to strike the cause from the calendar for the want of jurisdiction to try the same, except on appeal.

Affidavits of thier counsel were offered by the defendants to prove that the plaintiffs were permitted to give evidence to the inquisition against the objections of the company, that the church was greatly annoyed and injured by the location of the engine depot, in consequence of the smoke arising from the engines being wafted by the wind into the church building, and also from the noise of the engines and the passing trains and the ringing of the engine-bells. Two jurors also gave affidavits, which were also offered in evidence, to show, that, in arriving at the conclusion, they took into consideration all the surrounding circumstances, such as the passing of trains in front of the church, the danger in passing to and from the church, the expense of removing to another location, and the smoke and noise arising from the passing engines.

Seasonable objection was made by the plaintiffs to the admissibility of those affidavits; but the court overruled the objections, and the affidavits were introduced, and allowed to be read.

Hearing was had on the motion of the plaintiffs and on the motions of the defendants to strike the case from the calendar, and to set the inquisition aside. Both motions of the defendants were overruled; and the court, finding no error in the record, confirmed the inquisition and finding of the jury, and gave judgment in favor of the plaintiffs for the amount awarded. Neither party tendered any bill of exceptions; but the defendants sued out a writ of error, and removed the cause into this court.

Neither depositions nor affidavits, though appearing in the transcript of a common-law court of errors, can ever be regarded as a part of the record, unless the same are embodied in an agreed statement of facts, or are made so by a demurrer to the evidence, or are exhibited in a bill of exceptions. Matters of parol evidence in such a case can never be made a part of the record so as to become re-examinable in a court of errors, unless it be in one of four ways: (1.) By an agreed statement of facts. (2.) By a bill of exceptions. (3.) By a special verdict. (4.) By a demurrer to the evidence; which latter mode is seldom or never adopted in modern practice.

Exceptions may be taken by the opposite party to the introduction of depositions or affidavits; and the party introducing such evidence in a subordinate court may insist that the court shall give due effect to the evidence, and, in case of refusal to comply with such a request, may except to the ruling of the court, if it be one prejudicial to his rights. Where neither party excepts to the ruling of the court, either in respect to its admissibility or legal effect, the fact that such a deposition or affidavit is exhibited in the transcript is not of the slightest importance in the Appellate Court, as nothing of the kind can ever constitute the proper foundation for an assignment of error. Suydam v. Williamson, 20 How. 433.

Errors apparent in the record, it is true, are open to revision, whether the error be made to appear by bill of exceptions, or in any other legal manner. Slacum v. Pomery, 6 Cr. 221; Bennet v. Butterworth, 11 How. 669; Garland v. Davis, 4 id. 131.

When a party is dissatisfied with the decision of his cause in an inferior court, and intends to seek a revision of the law applied...