Case Name: Cross v. Blanford
Court: United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1826-05
Citations: 2 Cranch 677
Docket Number: 
Parties: Cross v. Blanford.
Judges: (Moesell, J., absent,)
Reporter: Reports of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia (District of Columbia - reported by Mackey)
Volume: 2
Pages: 677–677

Head Matter:
Cross v. Blanford.
If the justice of the peace had not jurisdiction of the cause, his judgment may be reversed, upon appeal, although the cause was tried before him by a jury.
This was an appeal from the judgment of a justice of the peace in a cause tried before him by a jury, under the act of March 1st, 1823, [3 Stat. at Large, 743,] extending the jurisdiction of justices of the peace, &e.
The suit was brought upon an account for damages sustained by Blanford, the plaintiff below, by reason of false imprisonment, at the instance of the defendant Cross. There was a trial by jury, before the justice. The defendant objected to the jurisdiction of the justice because the real cause of action was a tori, the damages being only an incident. The justice stated the facts in the nature of a bill of exceptions.

Opinion:
The Court
(Moesell, J., absent,)
was of opinion that, although the verdict of the jury was conclusive as to the facts of the case, yet this Court had a right to look into the facts upon a question of jurisdiction; and having done so, and being of opinion that the real ground of action, before the justice of the peace, was a tort, they reversed the judgment, with costs.