Musser v. Stauffer
Musser v. Stauffer
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The question presented by this appeal is whether the affidavits interposed as a defense to the plaintiff’s claim are sufficient to prevent judgment upon it. In deciding the question, we, like the learned court below, are limited to a consideration of the averments in the statement of claim and in the affidavits filed in answer to it. Matters of fact which are not included in these cannot be appealed to in aid of the contention of either party. Testimony for or against a motion or rule for judgment for want of a sufficient affidavit of defense is not admissible. “ On the hearing of a rule for judgment for want of a sufficient affidavit of defense the court may not go outside of the case as presented by the claim and affidavit to consider extraneous facts either in support of or against the fine of defense disclosed:” Allegheny City v. McCaffery, 131 Pa. 137. With this familiar principle in view we must consider and dispose of the question raised by the appeal in the case before us.
The laws of another state of the Union are to be proved as those of a foreign country: Ripple v. Ripple, 1 Rawle, 386; The law of another state will be presumed to be the same as that of the forum, in the absence of evidence to the contrary: Bennett v. Cadwell, 70 Pa. 253, and Van Auken v. Dunning, 81 Pa. 464. There is nothing in the claim or the affidavits we are considering which affects this presumption, and it therefore logically follows that the party who asserts that matters which constitute a valid defense to the action under the laws of Pennsylvania are not available as a defense to it under the laws of Virginia must sustain his assertion by evidence adjudged to be competent. The time and place for the introduction of such evidence in a case like the one before us is on the trial of it. As we have already seen no extraneous facts or evidence of them can be considered on a motion or rule for judgment for want of a sufficient affidavit of defense.
The notes and agreement on which the plaintiff’s claim is based were made in Virginia and the parties to them are the
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Henry C. Musser v. Samuel D. Stauffer
- Cited By
- 15 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- ■ Affidavit of defense — The court cannot consider extraneous facts. On the hearing of a rule for judgment for want of a sufficient affidavit of defense the court may not go outside of the case as presented by the claim and affidavit to consider extraneous facts either in support of or against the line of defense disclosed. Evidence — Laws of other states. The laws of another state of the Union are to be proved as those of a foreign country; and the law of another state will be presumed to be the same as that of the lex fori, in the absence of evidence to the contrary. Affidavit of defense — Laws of other states. On a rule for judgment for want of a sufficient affidavit of defense, where the plaintiff’s statement shows that the contract for which suit was brought was made and was to be executed in another state, the court cannot consider the laws of the state of the contract, inasmuch as such laws must be proved, and this can only be done at the trial. On a rule for judgment for want of a sufficient affidavit of defense the plaintiffs statement showed that the contract upon which suit was brought was made and was to be executed in Virginia. The defendant in his affidavit of defense averred that he had executed the instrument on the faith of a contemporaneous parol agreement with the plaintiff, the performance of which by the latter was a condition precedent to payment, and the nonperformance of which relieved the defendant from all liability. Held, that the affidavit justified the court in discharging the rule for judgment.