Grum

The plaintiff avers that, on a certain day, he was the owner and in possession of certain personal property, and that so being the owner and in possession, the defendant wrongfully took the same, etc., and has ever since withheld, etc. Defendant denies that plaintiff is or was at the times mentioned in the complaint the owner, or entitled to the possession, and alleges that one Lambert was the owner and in possession; that one Asberry recovered a judgment against Lambert; that an execution was duly issued thereon, and placed in the hands of defendant, (alleged to be Sheriff) who levied on the property to satisfy the execution, etc.

The defendant was not bound to anticipate the case of the plaintiff, nor to assume that he claimed as vendee from Lambert, or that he would be willing to admit at the trial that the *256 latter had ever owned the property. It was for plaintiff to deraign his title at the trial. He might prove it prima facie by showing that it was taken out of his possession, or prove it fully by showing that he derived from some other paramount source. If he claimed to have purchased from the alleged judgment debtor, it would not be necessary in the first instance to…