Forbes v. Madden
Forbes v. Madden
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Defendant John C. Madden appeals from a. judgment against him on promissory notes.
In 1912 Madden owned a gas and electric fixtures store in Topeka and sold it to William H. and Arthur Tucker, who gave-him four "notes therefor, each for the sum of $1101, payable in monthly installments of $183.50. Madden purchased some-land of the plaintiff and his son, and as part of the purchase price therefor -gave to the plaintiff three of these notes. The notes were signed by Tucker Electric Company, Arthur Tucker, and W. H. Tucker. Afterward the Tuckers desired to' reduce the amount of monthly payments and extend the time of payment of these notes. This was agreed to by the plaintiff on the condition that defendant Madden would sign the new notes the same as he had the original notes. On each of the new notes defendant Madden signed the following:
“In consideration of the cancellation and surrender of the original notes on which I was an endorser I hereby guarantee the payment of above note.”
The original notes had written on the backs thereof, and signed by defendant John C. Madden the following: “Protest and notice of protest waived and payment guaranteed.” Madden contended that this writing was fraudulently made, with
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- W. M. Forbes v. John C. Madden
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS BY THE COURT. 1. Evidence — Competency—Written Indorsement on Note — Fraud. In a written contract for the sale of land, the purchaser agreed to transfer certain notes of which he was payee as a part of the purchase price. After the transfer had been completed, these words, “Protest and notice of protest waived and payment guaranteed,” appeared on the back of the notes above the signature of the payee. He contended that the words were fraudulently put on the back of the notes after he had signed them. Evidence to show when the words were written was competent. 2. Same — Admissibility—Unsigned Memorandum. An unsigned written memorandum can not be introduced in evidence against a party, where it is not shown that the party knew anything about it, ever saw it, or ever had anything to do with it. 3. Appeal ane Error — Question Taken from Jury — Finding by Court. A personal judgment on guaranteed promissory notes will not be reversed because the court took' from the jury the question of whether or not the notes were guaranteed as part of the purchase price for land, and found that the indebtedness represented wás the balance of the obligation contracted for the purchase of the land. 4. Evidence — Alteration of Note — Burden of Proof. In an action by the payee of promissory notes against a guarantor thereof, where one of the defenses is that the notes sued on were given to take the place of other notes endorsed by the grantor to the plaintiff, that the endorsements on the original notes were fraudulently altered after being signed, and that the guarantor of the notes sued on did not know of the alterations until after he had signed the guaranty on the new notes,, it is not error to instruct the jury that the defendant is not discharged from liability unless the alterations were made by the plaintiff or by his authority and that the burden is on the defendant to show the-alterations by a preponderance of the evidence. 5. Jury — Competency of Juror• — Indebted to One Tarty. It is not error to overrule a challenge to a juror for cause, where it appears that the juror is indebted to one of the parties to the action.