Corkery v. Security Fire Insurance

68 N.W. 792, 99 Iowa 382
Supreme Court of Iowa·Decided October 20, 1896·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

Given, J.

1 2 [387]*3873 [386] I. Following the order of the trial, we first inquire as to errors assigned and argued upon the admission and rejection of evidence. Plaintiff, having testified that the policy in suit was executed in renewal of a former policy, was permitted to state, over defendant’s objection, that he told Mr. Koehler to make this policy payable to Mr. Moreton, mortgagee, as his claim might appear in case of loss; that he told him to renew the policy, and to put the Moreton mortgage in the same as it was before. Appellant seems to understand the evidence objected to as relating to the former policy, and to a former mortgage to Mr. Moreton that had been satisfied. We think it relates to the policy in suit, and the mortgage referred to in the answer, and was admissible to show that Mr. Koehler had actual as well as record knowledge of that mortgage when he delivered this policy. One of the policies referred to in the answer was issued by the Oakland Home Insurance Company, through one Dun, its local agent. Mr. Kilburg, an employe in Mr. Dun’s office, testified that he wrote said policy, and made the entries thereof in Mr. Dun’s record of policies, which record he produced and identified. He also testified that plaintiff told him that Mr. Koehler would come and get a copy of said record of that policy; that some time in the summer of 1892, Mr. Koehler did come, and he showed him said entry in the book. Said entry shows, among other things: “Mortgage Clause. Loss, if any, payable to H. J. Moreton.” Defendant objected to this entry as incompetent, which objection was overruled. The entry having been read by Mr. Koehler, it was [387] competent because of what it contained as tending to prove knowledge on his part of the existence of the Moreton mortgage. It is argued that as this entry was of a policy issued April 13, 1892, and the mortgage in question was not executed until June 15,1893, the entry must refer to the former mortgage that had been satisfied. This may be conceded, but the entry was competent because of plaintiff’s evidence that he had told Mr. Koehler to go to Dun’s office and make this policy correspond with theirs; to make it payable to Moreton as his claim might appear. Defendant sought to show upon examination of the plaintiff, and by the record of certain mortgages, the amount of plaintiff’s indebtedness at the time of the fire, for the purpose of showing “that the fire wasn’t in good faith; that it wasn’t an accidental fire.” There was no issue as to the cause of the fire. Defendant’s denial that it was without fault or negligence on plaintiff’s part does not imply that plaintiff purposely caused the fire. There is no such issue, and the evidence was properly excluded. We discover no error in the rulings on taking the evidence.

4 II. Plaintiff rested without introducing any evidence in support of his plea of estoppel set up in his reply as to said mortgage. Defendant moved for a verdict because of the absence of such testimony. After argument and recess, and after the court had announced that the burden was upon the plaintiff to show the circumstances relied upon as an estoppel, plaintiff’s counsel asked leave “to introduce some other testimony relating to the matter,” to which defendant objected, and the objection was overruled. Defendant contends that there was no showing that the further testimony was “to correct an evident oversight or mistake,” and that it is only in such cases that the court has, under section 4006, McClain’s Code, discretion to allow further testimony. [388] That the omission to introduce this testimony was an oversight, is evident from the record. Much time and care had been taken in introducing plaintiff’s evidence that preceded, and, although it was not said in words that the omission was an oversight, it was evidently so; and the court acted within the discretion given it, in permitting plaintiff to introduce further testimony.

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Corkery v. Security Fire Insurance, 68 N.W. 792, 99 Iowa 382 (iowa 1896).

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