Blank v. Barnhart
Blank v. Barnhart
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The question involved in this case, as concisely stated by the appellant’s counsel, was the true location of a disputed line between the lands of plaintiff and defendant, and the precise point at which that line terminates. The question depended for its solution upon the conflicting testimony of witnesses, and, therefore, was for the jury. This is not controverted, the defendant’s sole complaint being of the manner in which it was submitted.
The first assignment of error includes only part of a sentence, the whole of which was as follows: “ The dispute here is about a division line, or, speaking with greater accuracy, the whole dispute here is about a corner.” This was the opening sentence of the judge’s charge and was a fair statement in general terms of the controlling question of fact in the case.
The second assignment likewise presents but part of a sentence, which as a whole was as follows : “ The white oak tree, as we have said, is a monument that all admit marks a corner
The principles of law called to the jury’s attention in the plaintiff’s three points, which were affirmed, are so well settled as not to require the citation of authorities. Their applicability to the case on trial, so far as they related to the controlling importance of monuments and marks on the ground, is clearly shown by a bare reference to the facts submitted for the jury’s determination in the second point.
All of the assignments of error, excepting the first two, (and even they are subject to criticism, as we have seen) were framed without regard to the familiar and long established rule of court, that “when the error assigned is to the charge of the court, or to answers to points, the part of the charge or the points and answers referred to must be quoted totidem verbis in the specification.” The rule is reasonable and plain and has been enforced in numerous recent cases, both by the Supreme Court and this court. The truth is, the defendants would have found great difficulty in' singling out any particular portion of the charge upon the several questions referred to in the specifications, and showing that it was erroneous. This, probably,
Judgment affirmed.
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- Appeals — Charge of the court — Review. Where on review the complaint is that the charge was inadequate or one-sided, and particular error of law, or misstatement of the evidence, cannot be pointed out, the court will be reviewed on the general effect of the charge, and not upon sentences or paragraphs disconnected from the context which qualifies and explains them; if, as a whole, the charge was calculated to mislead, there is error in the record; if not there is none. The extent to which a trial judge ought to go in reviewing, analyzing and commenting on testimony depends very largely upon the circumstances of the case, and, to some extent, upon the line of argument pursued by counsel in addressing the jury. Generally it must be left to his sound discretion. It is only in exceptional cases, as for example, where it plainly appears that the charge is so inadequate in this regard as to be misleading, or where by indirection, it withdraws the attention of the jury from material issues or evidence, or from matters entering as necessary elements into the decision of the question at issue, or where its tendency as a whole is to unduly magnify the importance of the proofs introduced by one party and to belittle those introduced by the other party, that the court will be reversed upon a general complaint that the charge is inadequate and misleading. Trespass — Division line — Charge of court. In an action of trespass where the question in dispute is the true location of aline, the appellate court will not reverse a judgment, because the trial judge for purposes of convenience spoke of aline which was eighteen and three tenths rods long as an eighteen rod line, where the dispute as to the precise length of the line, and as to its terminal point was fairly presented to the jury, and left to their determination. Appeals — Assignments of error. The Superior Court will enforce the reasonable rule that assignments of error to the charge of the court, or to answers to points, must quote the part of the charge or the points and answers to which objection is taken.