Littlefield v. Rice
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Assumpsit to recover $41-75, the amount of the plaintiff’s account for work and labor, annexed to his writ. The following is the report of the trial in the court of common pleas, before Washburn, J. “ The plaintiff produced a book of accounts, and to the inquiry of his counsel answered that it was his book of original entries, and that the entries were made by his wife, in his presence and by his direction.
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Assumpsit to recover $41-75, the amount of the plaintiff’s account for work and labor, annexed to his writ. The following is the report of the trial in the court of common pleas, before Washburn, J. “ The plaintiff produced a book of accounts, and to the inquiry of his counsel answered that it was his book of original entries, and that the entries were made by his wife, in his presence and by his direction. The defendant objected to the plaintiff’s testifying to entries made by his wife. The plaintiff then called his wife as a witness, to prove that the entries were in her hand writing and…
1Opinion of the CourtHubbard, J.
No case, like the one at bar, of husband and wife testifying for each other as to entries in the book of the husband, has been before this court. But a case similar in principle has occurred, and which has been the subject of judicial decision. It was the case of two partners, who were butchers, one of whom, in the instances on trial, delivered the articles, scoring them in chalk on his cart, and the other copied them from the chalk marks into their book. The court there held, that both parties might be admitted to prove the truth of the charges, the testimony being incomplete with*290out the…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Stanton v. WillsonU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Connecticut · 1808
- Carr v. CornellSupreme Court of Vermont · 1832