In re Irvine
In re Irvine
Concurring Opinion
I concur. Upon a more careful consideration of this case since its reargument, I am entirely satisfied that the conclusion reached in the foregoing opinion of Mr. Justice Harrison is correct, and that there is not such a substantial conflict in the evidence as to justify this court in sustaining the findings of the superior court upon that ground.
Opinion of the Court
The decedent in his lifetime made a promissory note to Annie M. Bascom, for the sum of
The court does not find in direct terms that the petitioner did not receive from the administrator the full amount of her claim, but it is fairly to be inferred that such was intended to be its finding. The only evidence in support of such finding is that of the petitioner herself, and an examination of her testimony fails to support the conclusion of the court, her only statement to this effect being that she settled the claim for $3,100; that the way in which she remembered that she got only $3,100 was that she knew that she had loaned $3,600, and got only $3,100, and did not get any interest. She
There were introduced in evidence two written instruments executed by Mrs. Bascom, viz., a satisfaction of the judgment, in which was an acknowledgment that the sum of $3,980 had been paid to her by the administrator; and a release by her of the administrator from all claims, in which Mrs. Bascom also acknowledged that the sum of $3,730 had been paid to her by the administrator. Although the note and mortgage had been made in the name of Mrs. Bascom, the money belonged to Mrs. Smith, the petitioner herein, and the business in reference thereto with the administrator of the estate, and throughout the litigation, had been entirely transacted by Mrs. Smith, who had also procured these releases from Mrs. Bascom. There was also introduced in evidence a release of all claims against the administrator and his attorney, executed by Mrs. Smith, which she expressed therein was made by her in con
The defective character of Mrs. Smith’s memory was shown in many parts of her testimony. She testified ■with reference to the Connolly judgment: “ I never heard of it until recently, never until I read it here. I did n’t know any thing about the judgment. If I had known that the court had ordered that judgment should be paid in full, I -would not have presented strangers with $500 that I could not afford to lose.” Yet there was introduced in evidence a written receipt for the sum of $250, signed by herself for Mrs! Bascom on the day the judgment was entered, “ on account of judgment in my favor, and against the estate of William Irvine, for the sum of $3,980 in the case of Connolly v. Marye, as administrator, etc., in the superior court of the state of California, in and for the city and county of San Francisco.” A similar recognition and knowledge of this judgment appears in the afore-named satisfaction and release that were executed by Mrs. Bascom, and of which the petitioner had full knowledge at the time of their execution.
The rule is well established that oral testimony in contradiction of the plain terms of a written instrument, or of written admissions, should be clear, full, and precise, and that the weight to be given to any such testimony diminishes with its distance from the date of the instrument, which it purports to contradict or overcome. This contemporaneous evidence on the part of Mrs. Smith is so directly at variance with her oral testimony upon the same subject given so many years later, and is so corroborative of the testimony on the part of the administrator, that we think her oral testimony did not create a substantial conflict with that given on the part of the administrator, and that the above finding of the court was contrary to the evidence. The court did not itself accept the testimony of Mrs. Smith as satisfactory, since, as it was conceded that the sum of $3,980 was due upon the note and mortgage, and she testified that she
The judgment and order are reversed.
Fitzgerald, J., McFarland, J., and Beatty, C. J., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In the Matter of the Estate of WILLIAM IRVINE
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Estates of Deceased Persons—Compromise of Claim—Action to Rescind—Finding Against Evidence.—Where a claim against the estate of a deceased attorney was compromised with the administrator by allowing an offset of $250, as attorney’s fees, in an action to rescind the compromise for fraud, upon the alleged ground that a balance of $880, due to the claimant, had not been paid or accounted for, except to the extent of $250, which had, without right, been charged as attorney’s fees, a finding that, by reason of false representations, plaintiff was induced to settle the claim, and accept in full payment $500 less than the amount justly due and payable, is against the evidence, where the testimony in behalf of the administrator proved that the whole claim, excepting the sum of $250, agreed upon for attorney’s fees, had been paid to the claimant, and written instruments were proved, consisting of a satisfaction of the judgment, in which there was an acknowledgment that the whole claim had been paid by the administrator, and a release of the administrator from all claims, acknowledging that the whole claim, less $250, had been paid to the claimant by the administrator, and a written receipt for the sum of $250, on account of the claim, signed by the claimant, and the oral contradiction by the claimant of the effect of the writings, and of the proof of payment, and oral evidence of the claimant that $880 had not been paid, given six years after the date of the writings, does not create a substantial conflict sufficient to support the finding of the court. Id.—Weight of Evidence—Conte: diction of Writings.—Oral testimony in contradiction of the plain terms of written instruments, or of written admissions, should be clear, full, and precise; and the weight to be given to such testimony diminishes from the date of the instrument which it purports to contradict or overcome.