Gittings v. Jeffords
Supreme Court of Missouri
Appeal from Clay Circuit Court. — lion. Ralph Hughes, Judge. (1) Tlie court erred in giving defendant’s instruction numbered 1. This was the only instruction authorizing the jury to find a verdict for either party.
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Appeal from Clay Circuit Court. — lion. Ralph Hughes, Judge. (1) Tlie court erred in giving defendant’s instruction numbered 1. This was the only instruction authorizing the jury to find a verdict for either party. The clause of the instruction permitting the jury to find for the plaintiff reads as follows: .“If under the instructions given you find that the paper writing here produced is not a certified copy of the original writing and that the original was not the will of said Mary O. Dallas, then your verdict will be in this form.” This amounted to a peremptory instruction to find against…
1Opinion of the CourtElder, J.
This is an action to contest the validity of the will of Mary O. Dallas, who died in Washington, D. C., on May 5, 1918. Plaintiff is the half brother of deceased. Defendant -Tracy L. Jeffords is executor of the will of deceased and principal beneficiary thereunder. The remaining’ defendants are a half brother, a half sister, three nieces, a nephew and a cousin of the deceased. The grounds of contest were mental incapacity, fraud and undue influence. Upon the trial the issue of mental incapacity was abandoned. The verdict of the jury established the instrument in controversy as the last will…
2Cases cited7 opinions
- Chouquette v. BaradaSupreme Court of Missouri · 1859
- Primm v. HarenSupreme Court of Missouri · 1858
- Connelly v. Illinois Central RailroadMissouri Court of Appeals · 1906
- Camp v. HeelanSupreme Court of Missouri · 1869
- Schneer v. LempSupreme Court of Missouri · 1852
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3Cited by10 opinions
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