Bruce v. Ullery

To hold that the so-called deadman’s statute (Code Civ. Proe., § 1880, subd. 3) prevents a cross-defendant from testifying as to facts preceding the death of a cross-complainant in a ease in which the estate presses the cross-complaint would be to permit the use of the statute as a weapon of aggression rather than protection and to give it application beyond that of the precedents. As we point out in more detail infra, we hold that in this action of plaintiffs for injuries incurred in an intersection automobile collision the trial court erred in applying the statute to foreclose…