Case Name: Jaquith v. Benoit
Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: New Hampshire
Decision Date: 1899-06
Citations: 70 N.H. 1
Docket Number: 
Parties: Jaquith v. Benoit.
Judges: Peasbee, J., did not sit: the others concurred.
Reporter: New Hampshire Reports
Volume: 70
Pages: 1–1

Head Matter:
Jaquith v. Benoit.
Whether a declaration in debt may be amended by filing a count in case is a question determinable at the trial term.
In an action to recover double damages for the bite of a dog, only the actual damages are to be assessed by the jury.
Debt, to recover double damages for the bite of a dog. Subject to the defendant’s exception, the court allowed the plaintiff to amend by changing the form of action to case, and held that the defendant was not entitled, as a matter of right, to have the. jury double the damages.
Wason & Jackson, for the plaintiff.
Henry B. Atherton, for the defendant.

Opinion:
Young, J.
The question of allowing the amendment was for the trial term. The defendant had no right to demand that the-merely ministerial act of doubling the damages should be performed by the jury; for it is the province of the jury to find facts*, and the only question of fact in this part of the case was the plaintiff's actual damages.
Exceptions overruled.,
Peasbee, J., did not sit: the others concurred.