City Bank v. Bangs
New York Court of Chancery
Upon the bill of interpleader filed in this cause it was referred to a master to examine and report which of the several defendants was entitled to the fund in controversy, with liberty for the defendants respectively to file a statement in the nature of a bill of discovery against their co-defendants, and to compel an answer to the same.
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Upon the bill of interpleader filed in this cause it was referred to a master to examine and report which of the several defendants was entitled to the fund in controversy, with liberty for the defendants respectively to file a statement in the nature of a bill of discovery against their co-defendants, and to compel an answer to the same. (See 2 Paige's Rep. 570.) Maria Van Riper, one of the defendants, now presented a petition, stating, among other things, that most of the facts on which she relied as entitling her to a share of the fund in court were only known to the wife of the defendant…
1Opinion of the Court
The Chancellor.
This application must be denied on the merits, without reference to the form in which it is presented. As the answer of a wife cannot be read as evidence against her husband, and she cannot be examined as a witness against him, she is not bound to answer a bill of discovery as to matters in which she has no personal interest. Although the wife’s vigilance in this case may have enabled her *37husband to detect the offender and recover the money, so as to entitle himself to the reward, yet in law the reward belongs to him and not to her ; and she cannot be a witness, either for or…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Fitch v. HillMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1814
3Cited by10 opinions
- Mercein v. People ex rel. BarryNew York Supreme Court · 1840
- Longendyke v. LongendykeNew York Supreme Court · 1863
- Pillow v. BushnellNew York Supreme Court · 1849
- Lincoln Avenue & Niles Center Gravel Road Co. v. MadausIllinois Supreme Court · 1882
- Babbott v. ThomasNew York Supreme Court · 1859
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