Jones v. Home Security Life Insurance Company

The first question to be disposed of is the right of plaintiff to offer evidence in support of allegations appearing in the reply to defeat defendant’s crossaction for cancellation and its defense of misrepresentation. When a defendant asserts an affirmative defense, he in effect becomes the plaintiff and carries the burden of proof of his affirmative defense. When the party carrying the burden of proof rests, his adversary is entitled to offer evidence to defeat the claim or defense asserted. Ordinarily, therefore, a court cannot rule on the right to recover until it has heard all of the…