| J0027 |
Writs of Inquiry and Inquisitions (Geneva), 1823-47. 12.5 cu.ft.
The writ of inquiry is an order commanding a sheriff to empanel a jury to determine the exact damages sustained by a plaintiff who had obtained an interlocutory, not a final, judgment. The writ contains a copy of the plaintiffs declaration and of the interlocutory judgment of the court. The writ was issued in cases where judgment went against the defendant by default because of his failure to plead, by ruling on demurrer, or by confession (cognovit). Execution of the writ was made by an inquest of twelve jurors summoned by the sheriff of the county where the original venue was laid. The inquisition states the amount of damages awarded and is subscribed and sealed by the jurors. The inquisition is attached or appended to the writ. The documents are arranged chronologically by court term, then by filing date. The first box in this series contains writs of inquiry and inquisitions from Albany and Utica for the years 1823 through 1829. All the rest appear to be from Geneva. Other writs of inquiry and inquisitions are found in the series containing plaintiffs' declarations, J0009, J0015, J0017, and in JOOll Motions and Declarations (Albany). The earliest statute concerning writs of inquiry was Laws of 1813, Chap. 56. Section 7 of that act provided that inquisitions might be held before a jury summoned by the sheriff or before a circuit court. The Revised Statutes of 1829, Part III, Chap. 6, Title 6, Art. 3, Section 7, provided for use of a writ of inquiry to empanel a jury to assess damages but required no writ, only a circuit roll, if the assessment were to be made by a circuit court. Orders for issuance of writs of inquiry were entered in J1165, J2165, J0167 Common Rule Books.
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| J0006 |
Reports of Referees (Geneva), 1830-47. .4 cu. ft.
This series consists of reports of referees who were appointed to report the amount of damages (if any) due to a plaintiff in an action that involved complex money accounts. Each report includes the title of the case, the amount of damages awarded, the signatures of the three referees, and the date of the award. Occasionally the reports are accompanied by a certified copy of the court rule appointing the referee, or by a stipulation by the parties that the case be referred in lieu of a rule of the court. Attached to a few reports is the signed oath of the referees, by which they swear to "make a just and true report ... according to the best of our understanding." The documents are arranged in rough chronological order by filing date but are otherwise unarranged and unindexed. Rules of the court to refer a case were entered in J1165, J2165, J0167 Common Rule Books. Referral of complex questions of money accounts was authorized by Laws of 1781, Chap. 25. Referral of causes was subsequently authorized by the Revised Statutes of 1829, Part III, Chap. 6, Title 6, Art. 4.
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Copies of Pleadings Furnished to Trial Courts |
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The first three of the four series listed below contain records of the pleadings, issue, trial, and verdict in civil cases tried in the circuit courts. Laws of 1786, Chap. 41, provided that a transcript of the record of a case with an ward of jury process should be sent under seal of the Supreme Court to the justice holding circuit court in the county where the issue was to be tried. This transcript, or nisi prius record, was prepared by the plaintiff's attorney. Laws of 1796, Chap. 10, required the circuit court, at the end of the trial, to deliver the nisi prius record and a certified copy of the trial minutes to the attorney for the winning party, who filed it with the clerk of the Supreme Court.
The nisi prius record has the following parts: the placita (name of the court; court term; names of the presiding justices, court clerk, and attorneys); memorandum (this starts with the phrase "Be it remembered" and summarizes the plaintiffs declaration), any subsequent pleadings by defendant and plaintiff; the imparlance (allowance to the defendant of time to plead); the award of jury process in circuit court (issuance of the writ of venire facits juratores); and the continuances, or postponements, if any, in the case. The postea, a summary of the trial proceedings in circuit court, is subscribed or attached at the end of the record or enclosed as a separate document. The nisi prius record bears on the dorso the name of the court, the names of the parties and plaintiff's attorney, and the time and place for return of the record to the Supreme Court. Often found with the nisi prius record is the writ of venire facias juratores, an order to the sheriff of the county where the circuit court is to be held, commanding him to summon a panel of trial jurors.
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Writ of Venire Facias Juratores, 1829. This writ orders the Chenango County sheriff to summon jurors for a circuit court trial to be held at the courthouse in Norwich May 25, 1829. Jurors were needed constantly for circuit court trials and for inquisitions to determine judgment awards due to plaintiffs. (Series J0023 Copies of Pleadings Furnished to Circuit Courts [Utica].)
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Accompanying the nisi prius record is a certified copy of the circuit court trial minutes, which states the names of the judge, the parties to the action, their attorneys, the jurors, and any witnesses; the jury's verdict; and its award of damages and costs. The copy of the minutes is signed by the clerk of the circuit court. There are no summaries of testimony in these trial minutes. The copy of the minutes is signed by the clerk of the circuit court.
The Revised Statutes of 1829, Part III, Chap. 7, Title 4, Art. 1, made changes in the name and content of the record submitted to the justice holding a circuit court. The record is now called a circuit roll, and it omits the award of jury process, substituting a simple order that the issue be tried in circuit court. Between 1830 and 1840, therefore, the file consists of a circuit roll with postea and certified copy of the trial minutes. Laws of 1840, Chap 386, abolished the circuit roll and postea and required instead that a copy of the pleadings be furnished to the circuit court holding trial. Documents called circuit rolls are still found occasionally after 1840 After the trial the nisi prius record, circuit roll, or copy of pleadings was returned to the Supreme Court clerk for filing, and the attorney for the winning party then prepared the judgment roll. The judgment roll contains a duplicate record of the pleadings, issue, verdict, and judgment, but it does not include the trial minutes.
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| J0022 |
Copies of Pleadings Furnished to Circuit Courts ("Nisi Prius Records" and "Circuit Rolls") (Albany), 1797-1847. 49.9 cu. ft.
The Albany nisi prius records and circuit rolls are filed by year, then arranged alphabetically by name of defendant. Many are out of order. Losing parties may be identified in J0141 Docket of Judgments, but there is no index to the present series.
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Trial Miniutes, 1842. These typical trial minutes state only the time and place of the trial; the names of the parties, the circuit judge, and the witnesses; and the jury's award of damages. The three "tales" jurors were summoned by the sheriff from bystanders around the courthouse after the panel of jurors had been exhausted. (Series J0022 Copies of Pleadings Furnished to Circuit Courts [Albany].) |
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J0023 |
Copies of Pleadings Furnished to Circuit Courts ("Nisi Prius Records," "Circuit Rolls") (Utica), 1828-47. 21.1 cu. ft.
The Utica nisi prius records and circuit rolls for each year are arranged alphabetically by name of defendant, up to about 1840; thereafter they are arranged alphabetically by losing party. Many are out of order. There is no index to the present series, but losing parties may be identified in J0135 Transcripts of Docket of Judgments.
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J0146 |
Copies of Pleadings Furnished to Circuit Courts ("Nisi Prius Records," "Circuit Rolls") (Geneva), 1838-48. 7.3 cu. ft.
The Geneva circuit rolls were filed chronologically by court term, then alphabetically by name of losing party's attorney. Many are out of order. There is no index to this series, but losing parties may be identified in J0138 Transcripts of Docket of Judgments. Geneva circuit rolls prior to 1838 were presumably destroyed pursuant to a court rule adopted at Utica on July 16, 1836.
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J3013 |
Issue Rolls and Continuance Rolls (Utica), 1819-30. .4 cu. ft.
This series consists of issue rolls and continuance rolls. The issue roll contains all the same parts and information as the nisi prius roll up to and including the award of writ of venire facias juratores. The issue roll remained on file with the clerk of the court, while the nisi prius roll was sent to the clerk of the circuit court where trial was to be held. Issue rolls were also prepared in the rare instances when a trial was held at the bar of the Supreme Court. The issue roll was abolished by Laws of 1818, Chap. 259, but later examples are found in this series. The continuance roll is a record of proceedings on a writ of execution (fieri facias or capias ad respondendum) issued after an award of judgment. It summarizes the issuance and return of successive process in cases where the winning party was apparently determined to have the judgment debt satisfied, no matter what the trouble and expense. The documents in this series were found bundled together They are unarranged and unindexed.
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