Case Name: Thompson v. Best
Court: New York Supreme Court, General Term
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1889-01-28
Citations: 4 N.Y.S. 229
Docket Number: 
Parties: Thompson v. Best.
Judges: 
Reporter: West's New York Supplement
Volume: 4
Pages: 229–230

Head Matter:
Thompson v. Best.
(Supreme Court, General Term, First Department.
January 28, 1889.)
Abbest—In Civil Actions—Affidavit.
An affidavit for the arrest of a defendant in a civil action, made by plaintiff’s attorney, principally on information and belief, and which merely states the conclusions which the affiant has formed from thé reading of certain documents, the contents of the documents not being set out, is insufficient. Macombeb, J., dissenting.
Appeal from special term, Sew York county.
Action by James Thompson against William J. Best. On the affidavit of the plaintiff’s attorney, an order for the arrest of the defendant was issued, and from the refusal of a motion to vacate such order the defendant appeals.
Argued before Van Brunt, P. J., and Brady and Macomber, JJ.
Donohue, Newcombe & Cardozo, for appellant. Wm. Lindsay, for respondent.
Reversing 2 N. Y. Supp. 220.

Opinion:
Van Brunt, P. J.
The allegations in the affidavit are principally made upon information and belief. This affidavit states the conclusions which the affiant has formed from the reading of documents which he alleges he has in his possession. The court has no means of judging of the soundness of these conclusions, as it is not put in possession of any of the evidence upon which they are founded. The court is therefore asked to issue an order of arrest simply because the attorney of the plaintiff believes that he has evidence in his possession which tends to establish a ground of arrest. It has been sometimes supposed that the function of determining whether the evidence is sufficient to justify this extreme remedy has by the law been devolved upon the court, and not upon the attorney. The case of Wilmerding v. Cunningham, 65 How. Pr. 344, clearly condemns as insufficient an affidavit whose allegations are simply made upon information and belief, without disclosing the evidence upon which this belief is founded. The very office of an affidavit is to present evidence to the court from which it may draw its conclusions as to the fact, thereby differing from a complaint in which evidence should not be alleged, but conclusions of fact to be established by evidence. The order appealed from should be reversed, with $10 costs and disbursements, and the order of arrest.
Brady, J., concurs.