Maxey & Son v. Fore
Maxey & Son v. Fore
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
This is an action of indibetatus assumpsit, for money had and received, brought by Fore against Maxey & Son. The plaintiff, in order to make out his cause of action, offered in evidence and proved the note of Kleissendorff to Maxey & Son, for $¡665, payable on the 19th of April, 1842, with their indorsement to him ; and to prove due diligence against the obligor, offered in evidence the record of his suit against Kleissendorff, including the execution and Sheriff’s return thereon : but because the execution had been amended after its return, as stated in the, case of Kleissendorff vs Fore, just decided, the defendants objected to its introduction as evidence, and this objectian having been overruled and the evidence admitted, they moved for a non-suit, which was refused. The propriety of these opinions presents the first question to be considered.
With regard to the effect of the amendment of the execution, we need only say, that for the reasons already given, in the case just decided, between the assignee and maker of the note, we are of opinion, that it did not affect the import of the record as evidence of the insolvency of Kleissendorff; and even if it did affect its import, the record was still admissible as evidence of what had been done, subject to be explained or restricted in its influence upon the question of insolvency or due diligence, by the fact that the execution had been amended, and that in its original form it varied from the judgment in the particular mentioned in the preceding case, and
Upon the refusal of the non-suit, the defendants introduced Kleissendorff as a witness, and the plaintiff’s objection to his competency having been overruled, to which the plaintiff excepted, the witness proved that the only consideration of the indorsement of the note by the defendants was a disposition to accommodate him; that he had purchased cattle from the plaintiff, and agreed to give the defendants as his indorsers of the note to be executed for the price, which was done accordingly. Whereupon, the Court, to whom the facts as well as the law had been submitted, rendered judgment for the plaintiff for the amount due on the note.
Upon this state of the case, two queslions arise. 1. Was the maker of the note a competent witness? And 2. If he was, was the count for money had and received, sustained by the evidence ? The maker of the note being equally bound to the assignee and assignor, we do not perceive that he is interested in the event of this suit between them, and especially upon a matter affecting merely the consideration of the assignment, or the form of the action, (1 Littell, 286;) the Court, therefore, properly overruled the objection to his competency. But we are of opinion, that upon the evidence, the count for money had and received cannot be sustained.
It is true that an assignment itself is now considered as furnishing presumptive evidence that the amount of the note was paid by the assignee to the assignor; and upon that presumption, if not disproved, the assignee may recover, in assumpsit, for money had and received, on prov ing the insolvency of the maker, by the use of due dili
Wherefore, the judgment is reversed, and the cause is remanded for a new trial, preparatory to which the plaintiff may amend his declaration, with the leave of the Court, if he chooses to do so.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.