Majority
p. 431Potter against Luther. ALBANY, August, 1808.
Headnote
In *e case of a pubhc officer, as a sheriff; ofCthe peace, constasufficient* to** Pr°v'® that l}° lie officer,withippohitl" meat.ON certiorari. The plaintiff below brought an action . , . ° or trespass de boms asportahs. The defendant pleaded, that, as one of the deputy sheriffs of Washington county, he took the goods by virtue of a fieri facias issued out of the court of common pleas, and offered witnesses to prove, by reputation, that he was a general deputy of the sheriff; but the justice overruled the evidence, and required that the defendant should produce and prove his appointment by the sheriff.
Crary, for the plaintiff in error.
Foot, contra.
It is a general rule to admit proof by reputation, that a person acts as a general public officer or deputy. In Berryman v. Wise, (4 Term, 366.) the court of K. B. in England, decided, that in the case of all peace officers, justices of the peace, constables, &c. it was sufficient to prove that they acted in those characters, without producing their appointments, and that even in a case of murder.
Jud'-ment reversed.