Ransom v. Crawford
Ransom v. Crawford
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The defendant, as the agent of his father’s estate, made settlement with his sister, the plaintiff, for her share
The main facts of the case are not in any way disputed; that is, that the real share of the plaintiff in her father’s estate was, as alleged, $4,262.31; that the amount of the check given the plaintiff by the defendant was $3,869.81, which, with the note of John G. Ransom, the plaintiff’s
Did the plaintiff agree to this settlement and accept the note of her husband, and the interest thereon, as part payment of her share of her father’s estate? If she did, she was, of course, bound by it. If she did not, as a matter of fact, the defendant was indebted to her the amount of the note of her husband and interest thereon deducted from her share. This was the simple question, and it was purely one of fact. Although the main facts are admitted, there is some discrepancy as to what occurred at the time of the settlement; the plaintiff and her sister differing materially in their statements of what occurred from that of the defendant.
The statement of the facts, briefly made herein, is we think the sufficient answer to the first and second assignments of error, the first being that "Under the pleadings and evidence in this case, the verdict must be for the defendant,” and the second that "The court erred in its refusal of defendant’s motion for judgment non obstante veredicto.” The court could not say, as a matter of law, that the settlement alleged to have been made by the defendant with his sister, the plaintiff, was one to which the plaintiff gave her assent. For the same reason, we think the answers of the court to the defendant’s second and third points, as assigned for error in the third and fourth assignments, were also correct.
The defendant asked the court to say that certain alleged facts, if believed by the jury, would be conclusive against the plaintiff, and that the verdict must be for the defendant. The court qualified these points by saying that the facts, as alleged, were to be considered by the jury "in determining whether she (the plaintiff) consented to this settlement, as claimed to have been made on May 27th, 1901.” In this we think the trial judge was entirely correct.- Both points related to the retention of the note of her husband by the plaintiff, and the defendant
The fifth assignment of error is: “The learned court erred in commenting to the jury upon, and permitting their consideration of, a statement, being exhibit No. 4, which was not in evidence, the said portion of the charge and the rulings on the exhibit being as follows: ” It then clearly appears by what is set out by the defendant in the assignment that the exhibit No. 4 was offered and was admitted in evidence but was accompanied by the statement of the plaintiff’s counsel: “I withdraw from the case entirely anything based on the idea of fraud, and rest the case entirely on the question of want of consent.” The statement referred to was an itemized statement of indebtedness by the husband of the plaintiff to the defendant, containing, as the principal item in it, note dated November 13, 1900, $178.41. This account was paid by the plaintiff to the defendant prior to this alleged settlement. As the record stood, the offer was made and the evidence accepted, but was withdrawn by the plaintiff for the purpose of showing fraud on the part of the defendant, but as being evidence of the lack of consent on the part of the plaintiff to the settlement alleged by the defendant. The objection, when this withdrawal was
The issue was clearly presented in the charge to the jury as follows: "In other words, gentlemen, as counsel have frankly said to you, the question for you to determine is: Did the plaintiff consent to this settlement at this conference held on May 27, 1901? If she consented to the settlement, and received the check, received the note, had the check cashed, and remained silent for a number of years afterward, then she cannot now be heard to repudiate that settlement, and is bound by it.”
That question was fairly left to the jury and, with the exceptions hereinbefore referred to in the several assignments of error, the charge of the court is not complained of. We think it was full, fair, unbiased and left the question entirely to the jury, whose conclusion was satisfactory to the court below, and is to be accepted by us.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.