Henry Waterhouse Trust Co. v. Paris
Henry Waterhouse Trust Co. v. Paris
Opinion of the Court
OPINION OP THE COURT BY
This case has been, before this court on exceptions to an order granting a nonsuit at the first trial and a statement of the allegations of the declaration is contained in the opinion sustaining the exceptions. (Ante. p. 46.) At the second trial the verdict was for the plaintiff.
Undisputed evidence was introduced proving the following facts: that on September 22, 1904, the defendant received from the Henry Waterhouse Trust Company, Limited, trustee under a deed of trust, the sum of $30Y9.11 for certain rents and thereupon entered into the undertaking declared on that “in the event that A. B. Wood or the Estate of Henry Waterhouse, deceased, shall be held liable by judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction on account of any claim or demand arising out of a certain redelivery bond executed by Clinton J. Hutchins, as principal, and said A. B. Wood and said Henry Waterhouse, as sureties, in a suit pending in the Circuit, Court of the First Judicial Circuit, Territory of Hawaii, between W. W. Bierce & Company, Limited, plaintiff, and Clinton J. Hutchins, trustee, et ah, defendants” he would-“save and hold harmless * * * said A. B. Wood, and the said Estate of Henry Waterhouse, deceased, therefrom to the extent of” the sum received; that on March 29, 1911, final judgment in favor of the plaintiff was entered in the Bierce case; that on April 12, 1911, the judgment
The president of the plaintiff corporation, referring to the payment of the $36,000 by his company, testified that while he had not attended to the details of the transaction he “was aware of what was going on” and that “this money was advanced for the account of J. B. Castle for the Blona Development Company ; * * * it was paid to the account of J ames B. Castle * * * All I know is that it was for his account and charged to his account.” In connection with the other evidence in the case this testimony, even though .there was none other to the same effect, required a submission to the jury of the question whether in making the payment the plaintiff acted merely as the agent of J. B. Castle, in other words, whether the payment was that of J. B. Castle in pursuance of the terms of his undertaking
By cross-examination of Albert Waterhouse, one of the executors, and other witnesses of the defendant, the plaintiff elicited evidence tending to show that both before and after the rendition of the Bierce judgment the executors endeavored to prevail upon J. B. Castle to pay the judgment in performance of his agreement and letter and that Waterhouse finally acquiesced in the suggestion advanced by D. L. Withington, who> was then acting as attorney for J. B. Castle as well as for the Waterhouse Trust Company, that perhaps an arrangement could be made whereby some one other than J. B. Castle would consent to pay the judgment and take an assignment from the executors of their claims against the defendant and others similarly situated and requested Withington to “try to make some such arrangement that through Withington’s and J. B. Castle’s efforts plaintiff agreed to make the payment and take the assignment, J. B. Castle in turn agreeing to reimburse plaintiff in the sum of $30,000 and guaranteeing payment of the balance to it provided it was unable to collect it from Paris and the others named in the assignment.
There was also testimony by Albert Waterhouse, the only executor in Honolulu at that time and who> also acted for his co-executor, that the executors did not request the plaintiff to pay the judgment save as might be inferred from the language and fact of the assignment itself.
In the former opinion it was held that the assignment on its face is susceptible of the inference that the payment was at the request of the executors. At the second trial the parties and the presiding judge proceeded on the assumption, and we think correctly, that this inference was rebuttable by extrinsic evidence. We have also held that if the payment was by the plain- ■ tiff and at the request of the executors the defendant is liable in this suit upon his undertaking. The request may be either ex
On this last mentioned point the court charged the jury, “if, on the other hand, you find that the judgment was paid by the plaintiff at the request of a third party and at the time the funds were advanced for such payment that the repayment to- the plaintiff of a portion of said funds by said third party was conditioned upon a failure of the defendant to pay in accordance with the terms of the receipt and that said condition was but a
Concerning the burden of proof the only instruction given by the presiding judge was the following: “In my opinion the burden of proof is upon the plaintiff to prove all the material facts alleged in its complaint. If you believe that such burden has been sustained by a preponderance of the evidence, a prima facie case has been made out by the plaintiff, and I am then of the opinion that the burden of establishing payment or ex-tinguishment of the obligation is on the defendant.” The instruction was erroneous. It is not entirely clear whether in the last portion the court intended to refer to payment or extinguishment of the defendant’s obligation now sued upon or to payment or extinguishment of the obligation of the executors to pay the judgment in the Bierce case. If the reference was to payment of the obligation sued on the instruction was wholly inapplicable for there is no claim by the defendant in this case that he has paid or otherwise satisfied his obligation. His sole contention is that the facts do not exist which would render him liable. 'On the other hand, if the reference was to. payment of the Bierce judgment the instruction does not state the law. The burden was not on the defendant to prove payment or other ex-tinguishment of the liability of the executors under the Bierce judgment. The burden was upon the plaintiff throughout to prove the existence of all the facts which would cause the defendant’s liability to- accrue and this included the duty to prove, among other things, payment of the judgment under such circumstances that in accordance with the law above declared the
The exceptions which have been considered are sustained and a new trial is granted.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- HENRY WATERHOUSE TRUST COMPANY, LIMITED v. JOHN D. PARIS
- Status
- Published