Morgan v. Henry
Morgan v. Henry
Opinion of the Court
It will be noticed from tbe statement tba£, except as to $400, there is no evidence in tbe record to' estab-lisb tbe amount of appellant’s claim other than ber own, and tbat sbe acknowledged payment of a sufficient sum to cover such amount with interest. Her evidence was objected to under sec. 4069, Stats. 1898, which provides tbat
“No party . . . shall be examined as a witness in respect to any transaction .or communication by him personally with a deceased person ... in any civil action or proceeding in which tire opposite party derives bis title, or sustains his liability, to the cause of action from) through or under such deceased person, . . . unless such opposite party shall first be examined or examine some other witness in bis behalf concerning some transaction or communication between tbe deceased . . . and such party, . . . or unless the testimony of such deceased person given in his lifetime ... be first read or given.in -evidence by the opposite party; and then . . . only in respect to such transaction or communication of which testimony is so given or to the matters to which such testimony relates.”
It is conceded that the door was not opened here, by any proceeding on the part of respondent, to permit appellant to testify, and that her evidence, if'it related to transactions dr communications with the deceased personally, was improperly received.
It seems that appellant started out in the trial to testify directly to personal transactions with her father, but met with the bar of the statute. At that point a question was asked of her by the trial judge, suggesting the idea that if, in depositing money with her father, she used the hand of a third person, though all concerned in the affair were present, she might testify to the transaction. Upon that suggestion
By the Court. — The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
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- Syllabus
- Witnesses: Transactions with person since deceased. Sec. 4069, Stats. 1898, prohibiting a party from being examined as a witness in respect to a transaction or communication by him personally with a deceased person in certain circumstances and with certain exceptions, includes any communication or transaction between a third person and such deceased person in the presence of such party, participated in by the latter, the third person being only a medium of communication between such ' party and such deceased person. [Syllabus by Mahshall, J.]