Farrell v. Weitz
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Complaint, under Pub. Sts. c. 85, charging the defendant with being the father of the plaintiff’s bastard child. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Thompson, J., the defendant put in evidence the plaintiff’s statement that she intended to marry one Leary, that he had got her “fixed,” that she was going to make him marry her, and that Leary was the father of her child.
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Complaint, under Pub. Sts. c. 85, charging the defendant with being the father of the plaintiff’s bastard child. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Thompson, J., the defendant put in evidence the plaintiff’s statement that she intended to marry one Leary, that he had got her “fixed,” that she was going to make him marry her, and that Leary was the father of her child. The defendant offered evidence of admissions of Leary, who had deceased, that he was the father of the child. The judge ruled that the evidence was inadmissible, and the defendant excepted. The defendant offered in…
1Opinion of the CourtMorton, J.
1. The declaration of Leary was mere hearsay. The fact in issue was the paternity of the child, and the defendant could not establish by the declarations and admissions of a third party, made in the absence of the plaintiff, that another person was the father. Boyle v. Burnett, 9 Gray, 251. Young v. Makepeace, 103 Mass. 50. The fact that the declarations and admissions were those of the person whom the defendant alleged to be the father did not render them competent. *289Even in questions of pedigree, the relationship must be established in the first instance by some proof independent of the…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Young v. MakepeaceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1869
- Commonwealth v. MorganMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1893
3Cited by11 opinions
- Commonwealth v. ChanceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1899
- Field v. GowdyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1908
- Weber v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific RailroadSupreme Court of Iowa · 1915
- Commonwealth v. Chin KeeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1933
- De Forge v. New York, New Haven, & Hartford RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1901
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