Rucker v. Johnston
Rucker v. Johnston
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
After a careful examination of the facts presented in this record we are satisfied that the appellant should have been awarded a new trial. The principle and, in fact, the only witness upon whose testimony the money in controversy was traced to the hands of the appellant and himself once had possession of it and was sued for failing to pay it over. In his answer to that suit he attempted to make an evasive denial of his knowledge in regard to the package, says “that Cobb told him upon handing him a letter that it contained .a little money, and that by some mistake he lost said letter without any neglect on his part. This answer was sworn to by the witness (Davis) and upon the trial of the present suit he swears that the statements in the answer made by him were not true, and that he knew at the time of swearing to them they were not true, and that he delivered the package or letter to the appellant Rucker. The court in the instruction given to the jury said to them in substance that if the appellant obtained the package of money and failed to pay it over to the party entitled upon demand, that he was liable. We perceive no objection to this instruction, but after the case was submitted to the jury and whilst the counsel for the appellee was making his argument, the appellant’s counsel asked for an additional instruction to the effect that if any witness for the appellee had sworn to a material fact on the trial knowing at the
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.