Klages v. Mueller
Klages v. Mueller
Opinion of the Court
— This action was commenced before a justice of the peace, the action founded on a note alleg’ed to have been executed by defendant in favor of plaintiff. We are not advised by the abstract which of the parties recovered in the justice’s court. At any rate, the cause was appealed to the circuit court and there tried before the court and a jury. The issue there was over the fact of the execution of the note by defendant, defendant having challenged the execution by affidavit denying that fact.
It appears that plaintiff herself was absent from this country at the time of the trial, being in Germany, and her deposition, taken there, was admitted in evidence over the objection of counsel for defendant. There was testimony on the part of plaintiff outside of the deposition, tending to show that plaintiff was absent from this country at the time of the trial; that defendant had admitted the execution of the note and that she had not paid it. On her behalf defendant denied that she had executed the note and two or more witnesses testified that to the best of their knowledge and belief the signature attached to the note was not that of defendant. Papers pertaining to and of the files in the case, executed by defendant, were in evidence.
At the instance of plaintiff the court gave five instructions. The first is to the effect that if the jury believed from the evidence that the note in question was executed by defendant, they should find for plaintiff and assess her damage at the amount of the note, specifying it, with interest at the rate of six per cent
Defendant asked no instructions and the court gave none of its own motion.
The jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff for the amount of the note and interest. In due time defendant filed her motion for a new trial and saving exceptions to that being overruled duly perfected her appeal to this court.
We are unable to discover any reversible error in this record.
We cannot go into the question of the action of the court as to the admission of the deposition in evidence for the reason the deposition and its certificates
We do not think the objections urged to the instructions are tenable. . They were neither undue comments on the evidence nor incorrect statements of the law.
The case was one entirely for the jury on the sole fact of execution of the note in question by the defendant ; the jury had before it all the testimony concerning this matter. We hold they were properly instructed and their verdict is conclusive.
The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.