Case Name: Gilson v. Johnson
Court: Iowa Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Iowa
Decision Date: 1857
Citations: 4 Iowa 463
Docket Number: 
Parties: Gilson v. Johnson.
Judges: 
Reporter: Iowa Reports
Volume: 4
Pages: 463–464

Head Matter:
Gilson v. Johnson.
An appeal lies from a judgment of nonsuit, rendered by a justice of the peace. On. appeal, the cause is to be 'tried on its merits, and errors and irregularities before the justice, disregarded.
A party cannot successfully urge an error in the proceedings of the court, which worked him no prejudice.
Appeal from the- Marion District Court.
Replevin for a chest of carpenter’s tools. The cause was originally tried before a justice of the peace, and judgmenti rendered against the plaintiff for nine dollars and costs. The transcript of the justice shows that on trial before him, the plaintiff, after examining one witness, and reading a receipt to the jury, which was not objected to, rested his cause.
The defendant then moved for a nonsuit, on the ground that plaintiff’s witness had not been sworn. The justice then refused to swear the witness, and suffer him to give his testimony under .oath, and judgment of nonsuit was rendered against the plaintiff, and also judgment in favor of defendant for nine dollars, an amount claimed by defendant as due him from plaintiff. On appeal to the District Court, the defendant moved first to dismiss the appeal, and that motion being overruled, he moved to affirm the judgment of the justice, which motion was also overruled, and defendant excepted. On trial in the District Court, plaintiff offered evidence to prove his ownership of the property replevied, and its wrongful detention by the defendant. "Whereupon defendant objected to the cause being tried again on the merits, which objection was overruled, and on a hearing, judgment was rendered for the plaintiff, from which defendant appeals.
J. M Neal, for the appellant.
No appearance for the appellee.

Opinion:
' Stockton, J.
The only reason, urged by defendant, why the District Court should have dismissed the appeal, is that no appeal lies from a judgment of nonsuit. To the contrary, see Code, section 2328 ; Griffin v. Moss, 3 Iowa, 261. But this was more than .a j udgment of nonsuit. The defendant recovered judgment for nine dollars against the plaintiff. Defendant claims that the District Court, should have affirmed the judgment of nonsuit entered by the justice, because a motion made by defendant before the justice to quash the writ of replevin and dismiss the suit, was improperly overruled.
It is also further insisted that the District Court erred in permitting a trial on the merits, on the appeal. In answer to these objections, it is only necessary to refer to section 2311 of the Code: " An appeal brings up a cause for trial on the merits and for no other purpose ; all errors and irregularities before the justice are to be disregarded."
The remaining objection is, that the District Court did not rend,er judgment against defendant, for any amount in damages. This objection cannot be made by the defendant, because of it was a valid one, he is not prejudiced thereby.. It is sufficient, if the judgment was satisfactory to the plaintiff.
Judgment affirmed.
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