Beckett v. State ex rel. Rothert

• Citation: 30 N.E. 536, 4 Ind.App. 136
• Case Date: March 05, 1892
• Court: Court of Appeals of Indiana

4 Ind.App. 136
30 N.E. 536

BECKETT
v.
STATE ex rel. ROTHERT.

Appellate Court of Indiana.

March 5, 1892.

Appeal from circuit court, Dearborn county; W. H. BAINBRIDGE, Judge.

The state ex rel. Dora Rothert against John Beckett on a complaint for bastardy. From a judgment against defendant, he appeals. Reversed.

Beckett & Doane, for appellant. John K. Thompson, for appellee.

CRUMPACKER, J.

This was a prosecution for bastardy. The record shows that a complaint in due form was filed before a justice of the peace, upon which a warrant was issued for the arrest of the defendant. The warrant was returned “Not found;” and the justice heard the complaint in the absence of the defendant, and decided that he was the father of the relatrix's child, and certified the cause to the circuit court. There an affidavit was filed, showing that the defendant was a non-resident of the state; and an order

[30 N.E. 537]

was entered, directing that notice be given of the pendency of the action by publication. In pursuance of such order, notice was published in a newspaper; and, at a subsequent term of court, due proof thereof was made, and the defendant was called and defaulted. The cause was submitted to the court for trial, and a finding was entered that the relatrix had been delivered of a bastard child, of which the defendant was the father, and judgment was rendered against him for $600, payable in installments, providing, in the event of his failure to pay or replevy such judgment, that he be committed to the jail of the county until discharged by law. The defendant appeals from such judgment, and assigns for error that the court had no jurisdiction of his person, and the judgment is void.

There is no statutory provision authorizing notice by publication in bastardy cases, and such notice without authority of law is equivalent to no notice at all. A personal judgment cannot be rendered against the defendant upon constructive notice, even where such notice is authorized by statute. It can confer jurisdiction only in proceedings in rem, or where it is the purpose of the action to determine the status of the parties, as in divorce cases; and then it is effective only to the extent necessary to make the proceedings in rem or judgment affecting the status operative and efficient. The finding or judgment in such cases cannot be made the basis of a personal liability. Quarl v. Abbett, 102 Ind. 233, 1 N. E. Rep. 476. At common law the putative father of an illegitimate child...