Morris v. Rakestraw
Morris v. Rakestraw
Opinion of the Court
Rakestraw sued Morris as administrator of the estate of Cousins, deceased, alleging that Cousins was an old man, blind, helpless, and exceedingly corpulent, and that at the instance of Cousins he took charge of him apd acted as his personal attendant and nurse, and' was present and assisted him in the transaction of his business, and attended him on camping trips, did his cooking, and in fact was present aiding and giving such attention, both day and night, as a blind and helpless man would need. The petition alleged when he began his services and when his services ended, which was at the time of the death of Cousins, and that he had never been paid for such services. The different services were specifically detailed, and it was the contention of the plaintiff that he was entitled to recover the value of his services under the legal implied promise to pay for them. The defendant denied all of the allegations of the petition except that it was admitted that he was the duly qualified administrator of the estate of Cousins. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for a sum less than that sued for. The defendant filed a motion for a new trial, assigning error upon the following
The evidence in this case was sufficient to authorize the verdict rendered. The evidence of the witnesses whose testimony is complained of was not inadmissible. A reading of the - testimony of these witnesses in full shows merely detailed circumstances which the jury were authorized to consider in determining the issues raised by the pleadings in the case. The plaintiff, of necessity, was dependent -almost entirely upon circumstantial evidence to prove the allegations of his petition, and the evidence complained of detailed circumstances Avhich the plaintiff was entitled to prove. The excerpt from the charge of the court complained of was not erroneous for the reasons pointed out. The entire charge
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.