Highsmith v. State
Highsmith v. State
Opinion of the Court
—We are of opinion that the objection to the admissibility of the copy of the account of the assessor and collector, Highsmith, which whs marked “ exhibit B,” ought to have been sustained. The court below doubtless regarded it as a copy of a record of the Comptroller’s office, and admitted it in evidence as such. It appears to be a statement of the account of the assessor and collector with the Comptroller, made by the assessor and collector himself, and attached to the account as an acknowledgment by the assessor of a balance due. There is no statute which requires the assessors to make such acknowledgments, and no statute which gives to such a paper as the one in question the dignity of a public record. Doubtless the practice- has grown up in the Comptroller’s office, of obtaining such statements and such acknowledgments from the assessors, where it was practicable to do so, for the convenience of the office, and for the greater security of the public interests. But copies of such papers cannot be admitted in evidence upon the certificate of the Comptroller, in the absence of any statute giving to them the dignity of records of his office. Such an acknowledgment would, therefore, have to be treated like any other admission in writing. It could only be read in evidence by consent, or upon proof of its execution. This same point
The judgment of the court below is
Reversed and the cause remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Micajah B. Highsmith v. State
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- A copy of the account of an assessor and collector of taxes, with an acknowledgment of indebtedness to the State, cannot bo admitted in evidence upon the certificate of the Comptroller, in the absence of any statute giving to them the dignity of records of his office. (See Albright v. The Governor, 25 Tex., 687, for the same principle; Paschal’s Dig., Art. 3806, Note 889.)