Spears v. Chapman

• Decision Date: 09 June 1880
• Citation: 43 Mich. 541,5 N.W. 1038
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Parties: SPEARS v. CHAPMAN.

5 N.W. 1038

43 Mich. 541

SPEARS v. CHAPMAN.

Supreme Court of Michigan

June 9, 1880

A garnishee's disclosure will not sustain judgment in a justice's court if it is too ambiguous to show whether any indebtedness exists, or if so, to whom. The garnishee is a witness for the plaintiff, who has the burden of making out by him a prima facie case.

Cases made after judgment from Wayne.

Edward Nimock, for plaintiff.

Charles E. Miller, for defendants.

MARSTON, C.J.

These cases are substantially alike, and in each the judgment must be reversed. This court has held recently, in several cases, that the garnishee's disclosure in justice's court must show a liability to the principal defendant before a judgment can be rendered thereon. If the disclosure is ambiguous, leaving it uncertain whether any indebtedness exists, or if so, to whom, and the case substantially rests upon that, the plaintiff must fail. The garnishee is the plaintiff's witness, and the burden of proof is upon him to make out by that witness a prima facie case.

Judgment reversed, with costs.

(The other justices concurred.)