Lewis v. Lewis
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Two libels for divorce from bed and board; the first by the wife against the husband, for desertion ; the second by the husband against the wife, for cruel and abusive treatment.
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Two libels for divorce from bed and board; the first by the wife against the husband, for desertion ; the second by the husband against the wife, for cruel and abusive treatment. At the trial of the libels together, before Gray, J., without a jury, the husband, upon the issues of his desertion of the wife, and her cruel and abusive treatment of him, offered evidence to prove that, before the date of the desertion and about the time of the acts complained of as cruel, she committed adultery. But he admitted that a libel brought by him against her for a divorce from the bond of matrimony for…
1Opinion of the CourtMorton, J.
The fact of adultery by the wife, of which the husband offered evidence at the trial, has once been litigated between these parties, and adjudged against him. He brought a libel for divorce from the bond of matrimony, against the wife, alleging the same act of adultery; and the court after a full hearing dismissed the libel, on the ground that the adultery was not proved. This judgment is conclusive evidence in favor of the wife, and estops the husband from afterwards litigating the same issue. This principle is recognized in numerous cases in this Commonwealth, but it is sufficient to refer…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Commonwealth v. EvansMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1869
- Thurston v. ThurstonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1868
3Cited by12 opinions
- Watts v. WattsMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1894
- Lyster v. LysterMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1873
- Dubois v. JohnsonIndiana Supreme Court · 1884
- Edgerly v. EdgerlyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1873
- Southern Title Research Company v. KingDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida · 1966
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