Denniston v. Hill

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Denniston v. Hill, 173 Pa. 633 (Pa. 1896)
34 A. 452; 1896 Pa. LEXIS 755
Dean, Gbeen, Mitchell, Stebbett, Williams

Denniston v. Hill

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam,

This case involved questions of fact which were properly submitted to the jury with substantially correct and adequate instructions as to the law relating thereto. Their verdict for the plaintiff necessarily implies a finding of all the material facts in his favor; and, unless the learned trial judge erred in one or more of the particulars complained of, the judgment should not be disturbed.

There is no complaint as to the admission or rejection of testimony. One of the errors alleged is the affirmance of plaintiff’s fifth request for instructions. Five of the others are the refusal of the court to affirm defendant’s requests for instructions,' recited therein respectively; and the remaining three are to portions of the learned judge’s general charge. Our examination of the record has not convinced us that any of these specifications should be sustained; nor do we think that either of them requires discussion. As to the question, whether the defendant indorsed the note in suit with knowledge of the circumstances connected with the transfer of certain property, etc., to the so-called syndicate, the testimony was conflicting, but we think it was sufficient to justify the submission of that ques*645tion to the jury as was clone in that part of the charge recited in the 9th specification of error. Referring to that transaction the learned judge' said, inter alia: “ If he (the defendant) knew it before the note was indorsed by him, and indorsed it with full knowledge of that fact, he would, of course, have no right to complain. It would be a substantial assent to the arrangement, and therefore he was not injured.” There is nothing in this, or in any of the instructions to the jury, of which the defendant has just reason to complain. Neither of the assignments of error is sustained.

Judgment affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
J. F. Denniston v. S. W. Hill
Cited By
3 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Promissory note — Principal and surety — Evidence—Question for jury. In a suit upon a promissory note against an accommodation indorser, it appeared that at the time of the indorsement the plaintiff, the holder of the note, had certain property which had been conveyed to him by the maker as security for certain obligations, including the debt for which the note was given. This conveyance had been made before the indorsement of the note in suit which was the last of a series of renewal notes, all indorsed by defendant. The plaintiff with other creditors entered into an agreement to pool the securities held by each of them, and to divide the proceeds thereof pro rata. Plaintiff claimed that defendant knew of this agreement by which the property held as security was turned over to the syndicate before he indorsed the note. The defendant denied thathe knew anything about it until the maturity of the note. The testimony tended to show that the property turned into the pool was not sufficient to pay the debt other than the note which the maker owed to plaintiff. The evidence showed that the pool retained the securities for some time, paying the taxes and interest upon a mortgage, and that subsequently a portion of the property was sold at a loss. The whole case was left to the jury, and a verdict and judgment rendered for plaintiff. Held, that the judgment should be affirmed.