Bailey v. Westmoreland

Assignments of error directed to the overruling of plaintiff’s motion to dismiss defendants’ alleged affirmative defense, and to the submission of the first issue, are based on plaintiff’s contention that the court erred in permitting defendants to establish their affirmative defense by parol evidence.

The parol evidence rule, upon which defendants’ contention is based, “prohibits the admission of parol evidence to vary, add to, or contradict a written instrument.” StanSbury, North Carolina Evidence, § 251. However, “The parol evidence rule presupposes the existence of a legally effective…