Vansyckel v. Stewart

• Decision Date: 04 January 1875
• Citation: Vansyckel v. Stewart, 77 Pa. 124 (Pa. 1875)
• Parties: Vansyckel <I>versus</I> Stewart.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

77 Pa. 124

VansyckelversusStewart.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

November 13, 1874.

January 4, 1875.

November 13th 1874.

Before AGNEW, C.J., SHARSWOOD, MERCUR and GORDON, JJ.

Error to the Court of Common Pleas of Crawford county:Of October and November Term 1874, No. 71H. C. Johns and W. R. Bole, for plaintiffs in error.—A special verdict must find all the facts and refer the law arising from them to the court: 2 Tidd'sPr. 806, 807;1 Troubat &H. Pr. 583, 584; Stephen on Pleading 112; Wallingford v. Dunlap, 2 Harris 31;Kinsley v. Coyle, 8 P. F. Smith 461.

R. Sherman, for defendants in error, cited Fenn v. Blanchard, 2 Yeates 543.

Mr. Justice MERCURdelivered the opinion of the Supreme CourtJanuary 4th 1875.

This case arises under what the Act of 6th April 1870 declares shall be called a "legal arbitration:" Purd. Dig. 80, pl. 20.The provisions of the act apply to the counties of Crawford, Erie, Elk and Lawrence only.When a party elects to proceed under the act, it declares "there shall be but one arbitrator, who shall have been duly admitted to practice law in the courts of record in the county in which the suit is pending."It thus permits this judicial position to be filled only by one who is learned in the law.All others are excluded therefrom.The manifest design of the statute is to secure an arbitrator in all respects qualified to perform the duties assigned to him, according to the rules and forms of law.Hence, the 5th section of the actinter alia proceeds to declare, "the hearing or trial before the arbitrator shall be proceeded in in the same manner and governed by the same rules as trials before courts and juries, so far as the same may be appointed"(applicable).At the conclusion of the trial it is made his duty "to find and report the facts of the case in the form of a special verdict, together with the exceptions taken during the trial to the admission or rejection of evidence, the points of law made by the parties, and his decisions or ruling thereon, and his award or finding in the case."The act further provides, that exceptions may be filed to the arbitrator's decisions of law; and the award may be set aside for causes therein stated.On exceptions filed, "the same shall be in the nature of a writ of error to the Common Pleas or court in which the case is pending."All his rulings and findings may then be reviewed by the court.To enable this to be done intelligently, the act requires the facts to be reported "in the form of a special verdict."

A special verdict requires the jury to find all the material facts in the case from which the law is to arise: Morse v. Chase & Co., 4 Watts 456; Wallingford v. Dunlap, 2 Harris 31.It concludes conditionally, as the court may declare the law to be on these facts.It must include both disputed and undisputed facts.The court will not infer a fact not found by the jury.It must declare the law on these facts alone.Whatever is not there found must be considered as not existing;Wallingford v. Dunlap, supra; Thayer v. Society of United Brethren, 8 Harris 60; Berks Countyv. Jones, 9 Harris 413.As all the essential facts must be found in the verdict, it follows that it cannot be aided by intendment or by extrinsic facts appearing upon the record: Loew v. Stocker, 11 P. F. Smith 347, and cases there cited.

The statute does not declare that any issue shall be formed before this legal...