Hamilton v. Glenn
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
In Error. Error to the District Court of Alleghany county. John Glenn, the defendant in error, who was plaintiff below, brought an action on the case for defamatory words against Samuel Hamilton, the plaintiff in error, who was defendant below.
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In Error. Error to the District Court of Alleghany county. John Glenn, the defendant in error, who was plaintiff below, brought an action on the case for defamatory words against Samuel Hamilton, the plaintiff in error, who was defendant below. On the trial, defendant’s counsel offered to read to the jury, and file of record, a paper signed by defendant, of which the following is a copy: “ The subscriber respectfully asks leave of the court to file of record this written declaration, that it never has been his intention to impute to the plaintiff in this cause the offence of perjury. He is…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Rogers, J.
In Bellas v. Lloyd, 2 Watts, 401, it is ruled to be error, to permit the defendant to read and file a paper made by himself at the trial, disclaiming to hold property adversely. The permission to file papers, as is justly said, during a trial, affecting the event of the matter in issue, may lead to great irregularities and abuse. It may enable a party to vary the position of the cause by an act of his own, possessing no defined character, involving no legal responsibility, and taking the opposite party by surprise. It te$ds to embarrass the…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Bellas v. LloydSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1834
- Stewart v. MoodySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1835
- Hendel v. President of the BerksSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1827