Burnett v. Loughridge

54 N.W. 238, 87 Iowa 324
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedJanuary 27, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 54 N.W. 238 (Burnett v. Loughridge) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burnett v. Loughridge, 54 N.W. 238, 87 Iowa 324 (iowa 1893).

Opinion

Robinson, C. J.

About the first day of March, 1884, the plaintiff and her husband, Joel Burnett, under a verbal agreement with the .defendant, moved into a farmhouse which he owned, and remained there until December, 1887. During that time the plaintiff and her husband furnished board to the defendant and to some of his workmen. There is conflict in the evidence in regard to the terms of the agreement, but-a fair preponderance of the evidence shows that it was as follows: The plaintiff and her husband were to have the use of the house, excepting one room, which was reserved and occupied by the defendant, and the use of a garden. They were to board the defendant; do his washing and mending, and keep his rooms in order. He was to furnish one-third of the provisions required for three persons, and was to pay the value of whatever labor, in addition to that specified, was performed for him, and for the board of his workmen. That agreement was originally for one year or less, but was, in effect, continued until the plaintiff and her husband left the farm. The husband performed some labor for [326]*326the defendant, and board was furnished to a laborer employed by him for about two and one-half years, and to several other hands for shorter periods of time. The husband assigned to the plaintiff his rights against the defendant, and she is now the owner of all claims which have accrued in favor oh herself and her husband, subject to such credits as the defendant is entitled to receive. The defendant furnished flour and other supplies for the family, and claims to have purchased a promissory note made by the husband, and to have paid certain sums of money, for which he is entitled to credit. He demands judgment on a counterclaim for the sum of five hundred dollars. The district court rendered a decree in favor of the, plaintiff for three hundred dollars and costs.

i. appeal: latf toevL-m~ dence. I. The appellee has filed objections to a trial de novo in this court on the ground that the evidence was not preserved and made of record as required by law. It appears that the evidence was submitted on the thirteenth day of May, 1890, and that it was taken in shorthand by the official reporter, who filed his notes in the proper office on the next day. The cause was taken under advisement by agreement of parties, which provided that the decree should be rendered in vacation. The decree was signed at Montezuma by the trial judge, W. R. Lewis, and was forwarded to Oskaloosa, where it was received and made of record on the thirty-first day of December, 1890. On the next day the official term of the triai judge terminated, and he retired from office. At that time he had not attached a certificate to the shorthand reporter’s notes of the evidence. The reporter’s translation of the notes was not filed until the twenty-fourth day of June, 1891, and to that is attached a certificate of W. R. Lewis, verified by him, which, it may be conceded for the purposes of this appeal, is sufficient, if competent to identify the evi-[327]*327denoe. That the certificate of the trial judge, made after the expiration of his term of office, can not be considered, was decided in Cross v. B. & S. W. Railway Co., 58 Iowa, 65, and Pattersonville Edmational Institute v. Coad, 74 Iowa, 711. A verification will not cure the defect, and the certificate of Judge Lewis can not, therefore, be considered.

The decree contained a statement as follows: “The evidence was all reduced to writing by the shorthand reporter of this court taking same in shorthand, which was ordered filed, and made a part of the record.” Section 2742 of the Code, as amended, requires that, in order to secure a trial de novo in this court, all the evidence offered in the trial court “shall be certified by the judge.” It does not prescribe the manner of certification, and ordinarily it is found most convenient, as well as safest, to attach the certificate to the shorthand reporter’s notes, to his translation of the notes, or to the evidence itself, but that is not essential to give effect to the certificate. If it clearly identifies the evidence, so that there can be no mistake as to what is intended, it is sufficient. Jamison v. Weaver, ante, p. 72. In this case the decree does not recite that the shorthand report was on file, but it states that all the evidence had been reduced to writing by the shorthand reporter, and that the report had been considered, filed, and made a part of the record. It would have been according to the fact, and more explicit and regular, had the decree referred to the report as then on file, but the omission to do so was not fatal. It is a common practice to preserve the evidence in a case by means of a skeleton bill of exceptions, which contains- directions to the clerk to insert in places designated copies of papers, which are fully described, but whicli are not in his office at the time. This is especially true of the translation of the shorthand reporter’s notes, which is seldom in existence when the skeleton bill is signed and [328]*328made of record, but that fact does not affect the right of the clerk to insert the translation when it is made and placed on file in his office. The shorthand reporter is an officer of the court, the filing of his notes and the translation thereof are official acts, and when the notes and translation are duly certified and filed they are presumed to be correct. The decree showed that the evidence had been preserved in the shorthand notes of the reporter, and ordered to be made of record. When they were filed they became a part of the record, and were fully identified by the certificate of the reporter thereto attached, and the decree of the court, which was duly signed by the judge, and the legal effect was the same that it would nave been had the certificate of the judge been attached to the notes. It has been held that when the notes are duly certified by the judge and filed, and a translation thereof is duly certified by the reporter and filed, the evidence is taken down in writing and certified, and made a part of the i^ecord within the requirements of the statute. Ross v. Loomis, 64 Iowa, 433; Merrill v. Bowe, 69 Iowa, 654; Institute v. Coad, 74 Iowa, 711; Adams County v. Graves, 75 Iowa, 643. In Runge v. Hahn, 75 Iowa, 734, it was held that a certificate which described the evidence as “package of depositions filed” on dates named did not sufficiently identify the evidence, for the reason that the description would apply to any depositions filed on the dates specified; and was not, therefore, definite and certain. In this case the decree recites -that all the evidence was reduced to writing by the shorthand reporter, and the report which he filed will be presumed to include it all. That he has performed his duty in regard to the evidence is not questioned. We conclude that the evidence has been sufficiently preserved and identified to permit a trial de novo in this court. The objections of the appellant are therefore overruled.

[329]*3292. actios-for statementsof coS°Eatby [328]*328II. The appellant has assigned as an error the [329]*329omission of the trial court to make a statement of the accounts between the parties. A. statement of accounts made by the trial judge would have been proper, and, had it been made, it might have lessened the labor imposed upon counsel and upon this court by the appeal. A restatement of account in cases of this kind is sometimes ordered. Faga v.

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Bluebook (online)
54 N.W. 238, 87 Iowa 324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burnett-v-loughridge-iowa-1893.