Glenn v. Sumner
| Decision Date | 18 November 1889 |
| Citation | 33 L.Ed. 301,10 S.Ct. 41,132 U.S. 152 |
| Parties | GLENN v. SUMNER |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
[Statement of Case from pages 152-155 intentionally omitted] Charles Marshall and John Howard, for plaintiff in error.
S. F. Phillips, for defendant in error.
The sufficiency and scope of pleadings, and the form and effect of verdicts, in actions at law, are matters in which the circuit courts of the United States are governed by the practice of the courts of the state in which they are held. Rev. St. § 914; Bond v. Dustin, 112 U. S. 604, 5 Sup. Ct. Rep. 296. By the Code of Civil Procedure of North Carolina, the complaint is required to contain a plain and concise statement of the facts constituting the cause of action, and to have each material allegation distinctly numbered. Section 93. The answer must contain 'a general or special denial of each material allegation controverted by the defendant, or of any knowledge or information thereof, sufficient to form a belief,' and 'a statement of any new matter constituting a defense or counter-claim, in ordinary and concise language.' Section 100. In the absence of a counter-claim, no replication is necessary, unless ordered by the court. Section 105. A general verdict is defined to be one 'by which the jury pronounce generally upon all or any of the issues.' Section 232. In the present action, brought by the trustee under an assignment from an insolvent corporation to recover an assessment upon its stock, the allegations concerning the defendant's subscription for shares, and his liability by reason of his contract of subscription, and of the assessment made thereon by a court of chancery, were contained in the second and seventh paragraphs of the complaint, and their truth was specifically denied in the first defense set up in the answer. The pleadings therefore distinctly presented the issue whether the defendant made the subscription, and was liable for the assessment, as well as the issues of the statutes of limitations, and of a discharge in bankruptcy.
In the record sent up, the verdict unequivocally states that the jury 'find all issues in favor of the defendant,' and the judgment repeats that 'all the issues raised by the pleadings' were so found. This necessarily includes a finding that the defendant was never liable to pay the assessment. This explicit finding cannot be controlled by statements of fact in those parts of the answer which set up as independent defenses matters in avoidance, or in a bill of...
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Wyoming Construction and Development Co. v. Buffalo Lumber Co.
...... the admissions of one to destroy the issues raised by the. other." (See also Quigley v. Merritt, 11 Iowa. 147; Glenn v. Sumner, 132 U.S. 152, 10 S.Ct. 41, 33. L.Ed. 301; McDonald v. Southern Cal. Ry. Co., 101. Cal. 206, 35 P. 643; Spaulding v. Saltiel, 18 ......
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United Mine Workers of America v. Coronado Coal Co.
......1537)) the state practice controls. proceedings at law in the national courts held in the state,. in the absence of an act of Congress. Glenn v. Sumner, 132 U.S. 152, 156, 10 Sup.Ct. 41, 33 L.Ed. 301;. Sawin v. Kenny, 93 U.S. 289, 23 L.Ed. 926;. O'Connell v. Reed, 56 F. 531, 536, 5 ......
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Powe v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co.
...... the scope and sufficiency of the pleadings are governed by. the practice of the states in which the trial is held. Glenn v. Sumner, 132 U.S. 152, 10 S.Ct. 41, 33 L.Ed. 301. Following the decisions of both federal and state. courts, the matters set up in an ......
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Lillian Slocum v. New York Life Insurance Company
...647, 26 L. ed. 1200; Ex parte Chateaugay Ore & Iron Co. 128 U. S. 544, 32 L. ed. 508, 9 Sup. Ct. Rep. 150; Glenn v. Sumner, 132 U. S. 152, 156, 33 L. ed. 301, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 41.' Id. pp. 39, In other words, a practice which would not have been allowed in the absence of statute was permitt......