Study aid, not legal advice. caselaw is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or engage in the unauthorized practice of law (UPL). All briefs, outlines, and citation tools on these pages are educational summaries for law students; they are not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney admitted in your jurisdiction. Bar-admission rules vary by state. For court filings or client matters, verify every authority against the official reporter and your court's local rules. Use of caselaw does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Woods v. Courter et al., 1785 — 1 U.S. 141 · caselaw · US
General
Woods v. Courter et al.
1 U.S. 1411 Dall. 141·Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas·1785·PA
Brief incoming
Hand-reviewed Bluebook brief (procedural posture, facts, issue, holding, reasoning, dissent) ships once the AI generation pipeline runs through this case. Join the waitlist to get notified when 1L briefs go live.
Opinion
SEPTEMBER TERM, 1785.
Woods v. Courter et al.
Evidence. — Ship’s register.
Lewis, for the plaintiff. Sergeant, for the defendant.
[MAJORITY]
The register of a ship, or, in other words, an affidavit made by one of the defendants (who, however, was not in court, the return, with respect to him, being nonest inventus), stating that the ship belonged jointly to him and other- persons, being copied from the books of the naval officer, and certified under his seal of office, was allowed, after argument, to be read in evidence against the defendants.
And Shippen, President, mentioned the case of the protest of a master of a vessel, which had been allowed to be evidence in his favor. (See Nixon v. Long, ante, p. 6.)
The defendant’s counsel took a bill of exceptions to the opinion of the court, which, however, was never prosecuted, as the plaintiff eventually suffered a nonsuit.