Barton v. Gledhill
New York Court of Common Pleas
This was an action brought by Barton and his wife against Gledhill and his wife, to recover for a slander alleged to have been spoken by the wife o'f Gledhill against the wife of Barton. The judge rejected the testimony of the plaintiffs on the objection that they were husband and wife, and could not testify on their own behalf; and the defendants succeeded. The plaintiffs now appealed.
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court.*—Hilton, J.
(after disposing of another question).—The justice, I think, clearly erred in rejecting both *247plaintiffs as witnesses at the trial on their own behalf. The law, as it then stood (Code, § 399), permitted any party to an action to be examined as a witness on his own behalf, except in certain instances, of which this is not one, and the fact that husbands and wives are not among the excepted cases, seems to me conclusive evidence that the Legislature did not intend to exempt them from the general rule, that no person should be excluded as a witness upon the trial of a…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Marsh v. PotterNew York Supreme Court · 1860
- Shoemaker v. MckeeNew York Supreme Court · 1860