Carland & Bierne v. Cunningham
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Common Pleas of Crawford county. This was a foreign attachment in case on assumpsit, brought by James Cunningham, against P. T. Bierne and William Car-land, trading as Carland & Bierne, in which Leon C. Magaw was summoned as garnishee.
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Error to the Common Pleas of Crawford county. This was a foreign attachment in case on assumpsit, brought by James Cunningham, against P. T. Bierne and William Car-land, trading as Carland & Bierne, in which Leon C. Magaw was summoned as garnishee. The case was this: N. Connelly & Son, dealers in ready-made clothing, of Meadville, Pa., who were indebted to Carland & Bierne, of Buffalo, N. Y., in the sum of $1121.88, sold their whole stock to E. Connelly, Sr., a brother of N. Connelly. The goods thus sold, were not removed; but the sign was altered in accordance with this sale. Shortly after…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered, by
Thompson, J.
— The written agreement between the parties, and for a breach of which this action was instituted, was not produced at the trial, but a copy or supposed copy was offered, and admitted by the court. The admission of this evidence is assigned for error.
It is a rule of evidence, too ancient and too well understood to *232require proof of its existence, that the original instrument is better evidence than a copy, and that the primary source of information is better than the secondary. The latter is only resorted to after the necessity for doing so…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Gaskell v. MorrisSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1844
- Lessee of Thomson v. WhiteSupreme Court of the United States · 1789
3Cited by6 opinions
- Cooper v. BrownCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit · 1942
- Commonwealth v. A. B. Baxter & Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1912
- Kapp v. District Court of the Seventh Judicial DistrictNevada Supreme Court · 1909
- Reddelien v. AtkinsonSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1911
- Cottom v. WileySuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1909
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