Bennett v. McDonald

80 N.W. 826, 59 Neb. 234, 1899 Neb. LEXIS 357
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 9, 1899
DocketNo. 10,422
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 80 N.W. 826 (Bennett v. McDonald) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bennett v. McDonald, 80 N.W. 826, 59 Neb. 234, 1899 Neb. LEXIS 357 (Neb. 1899).

Opinion

Norval, J.

At the September term, 1897, an opinion was .filed in this cause, reversing the judgment of the district court of Douglas county. See Bennett v. McDonald, 52 Nebr., 278. During the pendency of the error proceeding, the principal defendant, George A. Bennett, died, and an order was entered in this court reviving the cause in the name of Sophia L. Bennett, as administratrix of his estate. A second trial has been had in the court below, in which the defendants were again successful, and they have again brought the record here upon numerous assignments of error.

George A. Bennett was sheriff of Douglas county, and, in his official capacity, levied upon property claimed by Charles C. McDonald a certain writ of attachment issued out of the district court of said county, in a cause therein pending, wherein Charles L. Chaffee was plaintiff and one W. L. Irish was defendant. Irish had owned the chattels seized under the attachment writ, and, while such owner, executed to McDonald two bills of sale conveying the [236]*236property. The latter instituted this action for conversion against the sheriff and the sureties upon his official bond. The bills of sale are assailed as being fraudulent and void as to the creditors of Irish. The validity of such transfers was the principal issue in the cause.

The assignments of error first argued in the brief of defendants below relate to the rulings of the trial court upon the admission and rejection of testimony. Of those assignments in the petition in error, it is contended by counsel for plaintiffs that they are too indefinite to require any notice-to be taken thereof. Consideration will be first given to this contention. The first assignment in the petition in error — and the others are like unto it— is in this language: “The court erred in sustaining the objection made by the defendant in error to each of the following questions, to-wit: (a-) Question number 1655, as found on page 189; (&) question number 1711, as found on page 196.” The argument of counsel is that this assignment is not sufficiently specific, because it does not of itself “afford the least idea of what the alleged erroneous ruling is, and seems to have been framed upon the theory that it is sufficient to state where, in the record, this court can, by its own diligence, find the erroneous ruling.” Redman v. Voss, 46 Nebr., 512, and Phœnix Ins. Co. v. King, 54 Nebr., 630, are brought forward to support the contention of counsel. In the first of these cases the assignment was “that the court erred in admitting irrelevant, immaterial and incompetent testimony”; and in the other case the assignment read, “The court erred in rejecting and refusing evidence offered on behalf of plaintiff in error, as appears at record, pages 209, 209½, 210, 211, 212, 216, 216½, 217, 220, 223, 224, 230, 238, 239, 240, 241, 243.” Both assignments were held to.be insufficient and too indefinite. But neither of these decisions would justify us in holding bad the assignment of error in the case at bar. In neither of the cases mentioned did the assignment convey the least idea or impression of the ruling relied upon for reversal, while here the assign[237]*237ment challenges the attention of the court to the ruling made on a specified, numbered question found on a specified page. The assignment is as specific and certain as though the identical question had been copied into the petition in error, and does not leave in doubt or uncertainty the ruling of which complaint is made, as was the case in Redman v. Voss. The uniform holdings of this court require that alleged errors be specifically assigned in the petition in error, and the assignment assailed in this case, measured by that rule, is not bad; but it is urged that the assignment does not designate the page of the record where the question referred to in the assignment may be found. This is hypercritical. The number of the page mentioned in the assignment unquestionably refers to the page, of the record in the cause, as that alone is before us to review. In the bill of exceptions the questions propounded to witnesses are numbered progressively, commencing with 1, and the pages are likewise numbered. To hold the assignment in question bad would be the adoption of a rule of practice entirely too technicál, and which would not assist in the proper administration of justice.

Many of the objections interposed by, the defendants to questions propounded to witnesses by opposing counsel were made on the ground that the testimony was irrelevant, incompetent and immaterial. It is urged that these objections were too general, in that they did not specify the particular grounds upon which the court was requested to exclude the answer to the questions. This contention is not well taken. See First Nat. Bank v. Carson, 30 Nebr., 104.

Question 1653, on page 189 of the bill of exceptions, referred to in the first assignment of error, was put to .the plaintiff on cross-examination, and was as follows: “You don’t know of any that weren’t incumbered. Now then, in view of that fact, do you still say to the jury that you did not know that the effect of the transfers that were being made to ycu and to Mrs. McDonald would be [238]*238to prevent the other creditors of W. L. Irish from obtaining their money?” There was sustained an objection that the question was too immaterial. The ruling was entirely proper. Had McDonald known that the transfer in question had the effect to prevent the other creditors of the vendor from collecting their debt, it would not have invalidated the sales, if they were made in good faith and for a sufficient consideration. If McDonald was in fact a creditor of Irish at the time the transfers were made, he had the undoubted right to secure his claims or receive property in payment thereof, even though other creditors might be thereby prevented from obtaining their money. See Jones v. Loree, 37 Nebr., 816; Brown v. Williams, 34 Nebr., 376; Landauer v. Mack, 39 Nebr., 8; Hunt v. Huffman, 41 Nebr., 249. The question was objectionable because it assumed the existence of a fact not proven, as there had been introduced no evidence to show that any transfers of property had been made to Mrs. McDonald.

Question 1711, at page 196 of the bill of exceptions, which was also propounded on cross-examination of plaintiff, reads thus: “You may explain to the jury how it is that you have all of these notes, whether paid or unpaid; all of these receipts, whether yours or Mrs. McDonald’s; all of these particular papers that pertain or relate to this deal between you and Mrs. Irish, and you have been unable to produce any other papers pertaining to any other matters in that business which I asked you about yesterday.” An objection was sustained to the question, and the witness did not make answer. We are unable to discover that the ruling was erroneous. The question assumed the existence of a fact not proven, namely, that, the witness interrogated had failed to produce papers which he had been requested to bring into court. If the witness omitted to produce a single paper counsel for plaintiff has not pointed the same out, and our own efforts have not enabled us to locate it.

We pass to a consideration of matters embraced in the [239]*239second assignment in the petition in error. Of this assignment counsel for plaintiff asserts that it is too general to require attention. The assignment assails the “sustaining” of the objections of plaintiff in error to each of the following questions, to-wit: (a)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
80 N.W. 826, 59 Neb. 234, 1899 Neb. LEXIS 357, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bennett-v-mcdonald-neb-1899.