Independent District of Fairfield v. Farmer
Independent District of Fairfield v. Farmer
Opinion of the Court
The errors assigned are that the court erred in admitting evidence to which the appellant objected. The abstract sets out the objections made, the rulings of the court, and states that the appellant excepted thereto ; and it further states that it contains “ all the evidence that was offered or introduced on the trial of the cause. The evidence was taken down by the official short-hand reporter of the court, and was extended by him, and preserved by a bill of exceptions as provided by statute, and made a part of the record.” An additional abstract has been filed by the appellee,
The appellee has filed a motion to strike out the evidence, and affirm the judgment and rulings of the court in admitting evidence, on the ground that the evidence and such rulings have not been preserved by a bill • of exceptions. This leads to the inquiry as to whether it is essential, in the absence of a statute providing otherwise, that a bill of exceptions must be signed by the judge. A bill of exceptions is defined to be an “objection made by a party in a cause to the decision of the court, on a point of law, which, in the confirmation of its accuracy, is signed and sealed by the judge or court who made the decision.” Bouv. Law Dict. 175. See, also, Mays v. Deaver, 1 Iowa, 216. It may be conceded that the statute provides that, as to some matters, it is not essential that the exceptions shall be signed by the judge ; but such is not the case as to ’the matter in hand. As to it the statute implies, if it does not in terms so provide, that the exceptions shall be so signed, or by the by-standers, which in a proper case is’ deemed equivalent to a signing by the judge. Code, secs. 2831-2835 inclusive. The latter section provides, if the judge refuses to sign a true bill of exceptions, that it may be signed by the by-standers, but no provision is made that it may be signed by 'the
We have no occasion to determine what the rule is in equity causes in relation to identifying the evidence. For the reason that the rulings of the court to which errors are assigned have not been preserved and identified by a bill of exceptions, the judgment of the district court is
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.