Graeter v. Williams

55 Ind. 461
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 15, 1876
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 55 Ind. 461 (Graeter v. Williams) 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
Graeter v. Williams, 55 Ind. 461 (Ind. 1876).

Opinions

Howk, J.

This was an action by appellee, as plaintiff, against the appellant, as defendant, in the court below, to recover damages for an alleged malicious prosecution of the appellee by the appellant.

The appellee alleged, in substance, in his complaint, that he had always been of good reptite, and, by his conduct, had deservedly acquired and possessed the good opinion and credit of his friends and neighbors, and, until the commission by the appellant of the grievances mentioned in said complaint, had never been suspected or charged with having committed the crime of forgery or any other felony whatever; but that the appellant, well knowing the premises, heretofore, to wit, on February [463]*4637th, 1874, at the February term of the court below, falsely, maliciously and without any reasonable or probable cause whatever, indicted, and caused and procured to he indicted, by the grand jurors of said Knox county, and State of Indiana, the appellee in this action, for the crime of forgery, by causing and procuring to he returned into said court, by said jurors, an indictment against the appellee, for said crime, in this, to wit, charging the appellee with having, first, unlawfully, feloniously and falsely forged and counterfeited an endorsement of an order, with intent to defraud one Charles Graeter, and, seeond, unlawfully, feloniously and falsely forged and counterfeited an endorsement of said order, for the purpose and with the intent to defraud one, “The First National Bank,” —said charges being in manner and form as shown by said indictment, a copy of which was filed with and made a part of said complaint; that the appellant, afterward, falsely and maliciously, and without any reasonable or probable cause, prosecuted and caused to be prosecuted, the said indictment against the appellee, until the appellee was, afterwards, at the February term, 1874, of the court below, on the — day of February, 1874, tried, in due manner and due course of law, upon said indictment, by a jury of his country, and was by said jury acquitted of the said premises in said indictment charged, and therefore, by the judgment of the court below, the appellee in this cause was acquitted thereof, and permitted to go thence without day; and that by means thereof, the appellee had been damaged and injured in his reputation, good name and fame, by the said false and malicious acts of the appellant, in the sum of ten thousand dollars; for which sum, and for all other proper relief, the appellee demanded judgment against the appellant.

The appellant demurred to appellee’s complaint, for the want of sufficient facts therein to constitute a cause of action, which demurrer was overruled by the court below, and to this decision the appellant excepted.

[464]*464Appellant then answered appellee’s complaint, in two paragraphs, to wit:

1st. A general denial; and,

2d. A special defence.

Appellee demurred to the second paragraph of appellant’s answer, for the want of sufficient facts therein to constitute a defence to this action. This demurrer was sustained by the court below, and appellant excepted; but as appellant has not, in this court, assigned, this decision of the court below as error, we need not notice further the second paragraph of the answer.

The action being at issue was tried by a jury, in the court below, and a verdict was returned for the appellee, assessing his damages at four hundred dollars. Upon written causes filed, the appellant moved the court below for a new trial, which motion was overruled, and to this decision appellant excepted, and a judgment was rendered upon the verdict, in favor of the appellee and against the appellant.

In this court, the appellant has assigned the following alleged errors:

1st. The overruling by the court below of appellant’s demurrer to appellee’s complaint; and,

2d. The overruling by the court below of appellant’s motion for a new trial.

Eirst. In his argument of this cause, in this court, the appellant has wholly failed to allude, even, to the first alleged error. In accordance with the well established practice of this court, in such cases, we consider this course, on the part of the appellant, as tantamount to an express waiver by him of the alleged error, even if such error really existed.

Second. Several causes were assigned by appellant for a new trial, in his motion for that pui’pose. In considering the questions presented by the second alleged error, however, we will pass upon and decide only such of those questions as appellant’s counsel have directed our atten[465]*465tion to, in their well considered brief of this cause. In so doing, we shall consider those questions in what we regard as their natural order, and not in the order adopted by appellant’s counsel.

Among the causes for a new trial, assigned by appellant, were errors of law, occurring at the trial, and excepted to at the time by the appellant. One of these alleged errors of law was thus stated in appellant’s motion for a new trial, to wit:

“ In refusing to permit the defendant to ask O. H. Cobb, a witness for defendant, whether or not the check drawn by William Baker, in favor of Charles Graeter, for two hundred and fifty-six and XV0 dollars, said check and endorsement having been read in evidence, was read in evidence on the trial of the indictment against said Williams, the plaintiff? ”

When we look at the bill of exceptions, which is properly in the record, and which we are bound to receive as “ absolute verity ”, on every matter correctly embraced therein, we find that the question which the appellant actually propounded to the witness, 0. H. Cobb, and to which the appellee objected and the court below sustained the objection, was in these words:

“ Was the check, and the endorsement thereon, ‘ Charles Graeter, S. W. W.’, read in evidence, and, if not, why not ? ”

This was the only question propounded by appellant to the witness, Cobb, and objected to by appellee, and the objection sustained, as shown by the bill of exceptions. It will readily be seen, that there is a wide difference between the latter question and the question set out in appellant’s motion for a new trial. And the court below, which sustained appellee’s objection to this latter question, might well have said, when appellant’s motion for a new ti’ial was presented, that it had never sustained any objection to any such question as the one recited in said motion. It will be seen, that if it were conceded that the decision [466]*466of the court below, in merely sustaining an objection to a question to a witness, without any thing else being shown in connection therewith, presented any inquiry for our consideration, we would be bound to hold that the bill of exceptions did not show that the court below had made any such decision as the one set out and complained of in appellant’s motion for a new trial, as alleged error of law, in sustaining appellee’s objection to the particular question set out in said motion.

But where a party, on the trial of a cause, has propounded a question to a witness, with.the view of eliciting evidence, to which question an objection has been sustained by the court, such party can not, by simply saving an exception to the decision of the court, in sustaining such objection, get error into the record, which will be available to him in this court.

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Bluebook (online)
55 Ind. 461, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/graeter-v-williams-ind-1876.