Julin v. Bowman
Julin v. Bowman
Opinion of the Court
This action was brought by a cestui que trust to compel an accounting on the part of his trustee. The trusteeship extends over a period of about nine years. The plaintiff is an uneducated Scandinavian, being unable to read or write, and testified through an interpreter. The defendant is his fellow countryman, but can read and write. The trust relation grew out of an honest, well-intended purpose on the part of the defendant to aid plaintiff financially, and enable him to pay off his numerous debts, and save his farm from a mortgage foreclosure sale. The trust covers a large number of transactions, involving the receipt and expenditure of several thousands of dollars. Plaintiff kept no books of accounts or record evidence of the various transactions. Defendant kept a book account, but in an irregular and almost unintelligible manner, so that his books furnish but little aid. Under these circumstances, considering the length of time involved, and that the parties must testify almost entirely from memory, it was to be expected that the testimony of the parties would upon all disputed matters be directly conflicting. The corroborating testimony on neither side furnishes a court much aid in reaching the truth; nor will any court ever be able to say, with any approach to certainty, that it has done justice to these litigants. No question of law is involved. Any discussion of the evidence would be a clear waste of time and space. Judgment was rendered against defendant for a small amount. Plaintiff, claiming that the judgment should be larger, brings the case here, but asks us to review the evidence only as to six items for which the trial court allowed the defendant credit. We have examined all the evidence pertaining to those
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Nils P. Julin v. Fritzof Bowman
- Status
- Published