Davis v. Babb

125 N.E. 403, 190 Ind. 173, 1919 Ind. LEXIS 105
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 12, 1919
DocketNo. 23,259
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 125 N.E. 403 (Davis v. Babb) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. Babb, 125 N.E. 403, 190 Ind. 173, 1919 Ind. LEXIS 105 (Ind. 1919).

Opinion

Willoughby, J.

— This was a suit to test the validity of a will and codicil of one Mary L. Taylor. The complaint was in one paragraph, and alleged that on May 16, 1914, an instrument in writing, bearing date March 12, 1906, and purporting to be the last will and testament of said Mary L. Taylor, and also an instrument in writing, bearing date of May 1, 1913, and purporting to be a codicil to said pretended last will and testament, were both produced before the clerk of the Jennings Gircuit Court, and were then and there admitted to probate as the last will and testament and codicil thereto of said Mary L. Taylor; that one William' H. Davis was appointed executor of said will and codicil, who accepted the trust and qualified as such executor; and the complaint further alleges that the instrument in writing so admitted to probate as the last will and testament of said Mary L. Taylor, deceased, was not her will, and that said instrument in writing and so admitted to probate as a codicil to said will is not a codicil to said will, and that the probate of both said pretended will and pretended codicil should be revoked for the reason that at the date of the execution of said pretended will and at the date of the execution of said pretended codicil said Mary L. Taylor was of [178]*178unsound mind, and incapable of making said will or codicil; that said pretended will and said codicil were both unduly executed, and were executed under duress.

The defendants answered said' complaint by general denial. There was a trial by jury and- a verdict in favor of appellees, finding that the said Mary L. Taylor, at the time of making said will and at the time of making the codicil thereto, was of unsound mind, and that the will and codicil were procured by undue influence and under duress; and On this verdict the court rendered a judgment, reciting that at the time of making said will and said codicil Mary L. Taylor was of unsound mind and incapable of making a will and codicil, and that the probate of said will and codicil be set aside and vacated. From this judgment the appellants appeal, and assigned as error that the circuit court erred in overruling the motion of appellants for a new trial.

The jury by answering interrogatory No. 1 found that the testatrix, Mary L. Taylor, was of unsound mind May 1, 1913, at the time of executing the codicil in suit. The jury also found by answering interrogatory No. 2 that the testatrix on May 1, 1913, at the time of executing the codicil to the will in suit, was controlled by undue influence. The appellants claim in the motion for a new trial that the jury made incorrect and untrue answers to interrogatories, and that such answers constituted a charge of misconduct of the jury within the meaning of §585 Burns 1914, §559 R. S. 1881.

1-2. This position cannot be maintained. Juries are presumed to do their duty, and a charge of misconduct must be affirmatively shown by the facts. M. O’Connor & Co. v. Gillaspy (1908), 170 Ind. 428, 435, 83 N. E. 738. If the answers to interrogatories returned by the jury are without support in the evidence, that fact is of no importance unless the same [179]*179insufficiency of evidence serves to overthrow the general verdict. Chicago, etc., R. Co. v. Cobler (1909), 172 Ind. 481, 87 N. E. 981; Board, etc. v. Nichols (1894), 139 Ind. 611, 620, 38 N. E. 526; Burkhart v. Gladish (1890), 123 Ind. 337, 344, 24 N. E. 118; Aufderheide v. Rohr (1918), 187 Ind. 205, 118 N. E. 823.

3. 4. The appellants contend that the verdict of the jury is not sustained by sufficient evidence. The sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a verdict on appeal depends solely on the presence, in the record of some competent evidence which tends to support that verdict. Young v. Older (1915), 183 Ind. 646, 649, 109 N. E. 909; City of Bloomington v. Moore (1915), 183 Ind. 283, 287, 109 N. E. 42; Pence v. Myers (1913), 180 Ind. 282, 285, 101 N. E. 716. In determining whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain the verdict of the jury, this court will consider, not only the positive testimony of the witnesses, but also such inferences as flow naturally from established facts. Chicago, etc., R. Co. v. Lake Co. Savings, etc., Co. (1917), 186 Ind. 358, 362, 114 N. E. 454; Southern Product Co. v. Franklin Coil Hoop Co. (1915), 183 Ind. 123, 124, 126 N. E. 872.

5. The evidence in this case is too voluminous to set out in this opinion. The appellants introduced 129 letters written by testatrix to William H. Davis between the time of Edmund Babb’s death and the death of testatrix. In our opinion there is some evidence to support every material allegation of the complaint. The issue of undue influence joined in this case, like other questions, must be determined from all the facts and circumstances given in the .evidence. The ultimate inference of undue influence, or its absence, was one of fact to be drawn by the jury, and not to be declared by the court as a matter of law. The [180]*180exercise of undue influence may be shown by circumstantial evidence, and the provisions of the will and the circumstances attending its execution may be sufficient to warrant a finding against its validity. Friedersdorf v. Lacy (1910), 173 Ind. 429, 436, 90 N. E. 766.

Such is the nature of the human mind that, when it has been habituated to the influence of another, it will yield to that influence and suffer it to have its effect, although the person in the habit of its exercise may not be present or exert it at the time an act is done. It may happen that the fruit of an evil and improper influence is born long after the influence is exerted. Taylor v. Wilburn (1855), 20 Mo. 306, 64 Am. Dec. 186; Lisle v. Couchman (1912), 146 Ky. 345, 142 S. W. 1023.

6. Undue influence need not be proved by direct and positive evidence, but it may be inferred from or shown by the facts and circumstances in evidence. Nor is it necessary that the overt acts of undue influence should have been exercised at the exact time of the execution of the will and codicil, but it is sufficient to show that such influence over the mind of the testator had been acquired previously and did operate at the time the will and codicil were made. Mowry v. Norman (1907), 204 Mo. 173, 193, 103 S. W. 15.

7. In the contest of a will on the ground of undue influence, the evidence required to establish the undue influence need not be of that direct, affirmative and positive character which is required to establish a tangible physical fact. The only positive and affirmative proof required is of facts and circumstances from which the undue influence may be reasonably inferred. Blackman v. Edsall (1902), 17 Colo. App. 429, 68 Pac. 790.

In the case just cited, Blackman v. Edsall, supra, the court said: “The chief complaint and contention of the [181]*181proponent is that the evidence presented and upon which the jury based its verdict sustaining the charge of undue' influence was insufficient by reason of its lacking in that affirmative and positive character which is claimed to be necessary. It follows from the very nature of the thing that evidence to show undue influence must be largely in effect circumstantial.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Nichols v. Estate of Tyler
910 N.E.2d 221 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2009)
Gast v. Hall
858 N.E.2d 154 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2006)
In Re Dilios'will
167 A.2d 571 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1960)
In re Casco Bank & Trust Co.
167 A.2d 571 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1960)
Norman v. Norman
169 N.E.2d 414 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1960)
DROLET, ADMTRX. ETC. v. Pennsylvania R. Co.
164 N.E.2d 555 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1960)
Isenhour v. SPEECE, ADMR.
150 N.E.2d 749 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1958)
McCartney v. Rex
127 Ind. App. 702 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1957)
McCARTNEY, ETC. v. REX
145 N.E.2d 400 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1957)
Love v. HARRIS
143 N.E.2d 450 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1957)
Lindinger v. LINDINGER
130 N.E.2d 75 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1955)
Cahill v. Cliver
98 N.E.2d 388 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1951)
Haas v. Haas
96 N.E.2d 116 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1951)
Bitner v. Bitner
91 N.E.2d 169 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1950)
Hibbard v. Hibbard
73 N.E.2d 181 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1947)
Workman v. Workman
46 N.E.2d 718 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1943)
In Re Raynolds
27 A.2d 226 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1942)
Keeshin Motor Express Co. v. Glassman
38 N.E.2d 847 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1942)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
125 N.E. 403, 190 Ind. 173, 1919 Ind. LEXIS 105, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-babb-ind-1919.