Case Name: James Thompson, Resp't, v. William J. Best, App'lt
Court: New York Supreme Court, General Term
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1889-01-23
Citations: 21 N.Y. St. Rep. 103
Docket Number: 
Parties: James Thompson, Resp’t, v. William J. Best, App’lt.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York State Reporter
Volume: 21
Pages: 103–104

Head Matter:
James Thompson, Resp’t, v. William J. Best, App’lt.
(Supreme Court, General Term, First Department,
Filed January 23, 1889.)
Practice—Arrest—Sufficiency of affidavit.
An affidavit made by an attorney in which the allegations are simply made upon information and belief without disclosing the evidence upon which this belief is founded, is insufficient to sustain an order of arrest. Macomber, J., dissenting.
Appeal from an order of the special term denying a motion made by the defendant to vacate an order of arrest.
Wm. Lindsay, for resp’t; Donohue, Newcornbe & Cardozo, for app’lt.

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 found from the reading of the 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. R., 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 ten dollars costs and disbursements, and the order of arrest should be vacated.
Brady, J., concurs.