Jessop v. Ivory
Jessop v. Ivory
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
There were two errors in the trial, for which the judgment must be reversed. The defence was a denial of the contract sued on, and, secondly, an allegation that even if such a contract had been made in plaintiff’s favor he had waived it. This branch of the defence the learned judge only touched in the most indefinite way, in his general charge that if “ there has not been anything done by the plaintiff to do away with that contract, or waive it in any way subsequent to that time and the bringing of this suit, he would be entitled to recover.” This instruction would scarcely be adequate if it stood unimpaired, but it was practically nullified by the answers to the points. Th us the plaintiff’s first point, which was constructed with reference only to the contract and entirely ignored the subject of waiver, was affirmed without qualification, while the defendant’s third
The other error was in telling the jury in answer to defendant’s ninth point that “the receipt must be found by you to contain the entire contract of the parties.” This was putting the burden on the wrong party. The written receipt admittedly contained an agreement to return the money in a certain contingency, and the presumption therefore was that that was the only contingency. The jury should have been told that the writing is presumed to contain the whole contract between the parties, and they must so find, unless satisfied by clear and convincing evidence thatsanother part of the agreement was in fact made at the time, but by fraud, mistake or accident omitted from the writing.
The other assignments are not sustained. The relevancy of the matters inquired of, in the first four assignments, is not very
Judgment reversed and venire de novo awarded.
Reference
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Corporations — Conditional subscription to stock — Promoters—Evidence— Question for jury. In an action against a promoter of a corpoi'ation to recover the amount of a stock subscription paid by plaintiff as a subscriber, plaintiff claimed that when the' subscription was made defendant agreed that the money should be returned to plaintiff if he were dissatisfied. Plaintiff averred that under this agreement he had rescinded the contract. Defendant offered evidence which tended to show that plaintiff had directed him to sell the stock at a price named, that plaintiff had also given a proxy to vote his stock, and that he had attended and participated in the business of a stockholders’ meeting. Held, that the case was for the jury, with instructions that the facts alleged by defendant were prima facie acts of ownership inconsistent with the demand for rescission, and that the jury were at liberty to infer from them an acquiescence in defendant’s refusal, and an abandonment or waiver of such demand. Contract — Parol agreement — Evidence. A written agreement is presumed to contain the whole contract between the parties, and the jury must so find, unless satisfied by clear and convincing evidence that another part of the agreement was in fact made at the time, but by fraud, mistake or accident omitted from the writing. Evidence— Cross-examination — Discretion of court — Review. Collateral matters tending to prejudice the other parties in the minds of the jury should not be brought out on cross-examination, merely for the purpose of laying ground for subsequent contradiction to affect the credibility of a witness. But as considerable latitude must be allowed to the discretion of the court in the matter of cross-examination, the Supreme Court will not reverse unless convinced of clear error in the exercise of this discretion.