Pelamourges v. Clark

9 Iowa 1
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedApril 22, 1859
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 9 Iowa 1 (Pelamourges v. Clark) 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
Pelamourges v. Clark, 9 Iowa 1 (iowa 1859).

Opinions

Stockton, J.1

We shall examine the questions raised in this case in the order in which they are presented by the assignment of errors.

I. The first assignment of error is upon the ruling of the court in suppressing a portion of the deposition of Alfred E. Brown. The fourth and fifth interrogatories, and the answers; and the fourth cross interrogatory, and the answer thereto, are as follows:

Intg. 4. What was James McCarthy’s state of mind as regards sanity during your acquaintance with him ? What was Ms state of mind on or about the 20th Nov.,'1850? State particularly all the facts tending to show his state of mind at that time.”

Ans. At no time during my acquaintance with him did I have any doubt but that he was sane. I cannot state that /■ I saw him as late as Nov. 20th, 1850; but late in the fall of 1850 I had frequent conversations with him, and in such conversations I neither saw nor heard anything from him to induce me to doubt his entire sanity.

uIntg. 5. What was his state of mind as regards his [12]*12capacity to."make 'a disposition of bis property by will, on or about Nov.’ 20 th, 1850 ? ” ' ' '

uAns\ Ef om niy acquaintance .with him I should think him .capable of making, a1 disposition of his property by will at any’timé dúring my .acquaintance with him.”.

“ Cross Inig. 4. .'Suppose the fact to be,that he was.insane -before, he came to Davenport,- and after he left Davenport, state what 'conduct of. his ..you. remember which, tends to. show .aberration of mind,”. ..... :...

“ Aíis,":’I can, recollect.of no circumstances which tend to .show, aberration ..of mind during niy acquaintance with him.”

..The court ruled that the answerspf the witness to these in-:terrogátorie.smjist be'süppr.essed, and they were excluded from the jury.- The court further ruled, in the .same connection, that the opinions of non-professional witnesses, not subscribers to the will, could not be given in evidence, but that such witnesses must state facts and circumstances only, and let the jury judge of the testator’s sanity for themselves.

The general rule- is: admitted to be, that the testimony of witnesses :á¡3 - tdW confinecj. to facts,', añd --that'thfei’r. opinions aré ¡not Admissible. ^-“-'ThiArul'e, fsays"Mr."Rest) is-.necessary :to prevent1’the-other rules: of- evidence1 frota, being practically nullified.-'-- Yain' would it be for 'the law to constitute the jiiry- triers of disputed facts;to reject'derivative'evidence ■when ' original: proof, is 'withheldj''or' to' declare - that' a party is’ ño't tó be 'prejudiced "by the words'or'acts of others' with whom he-is; unconnected^, if they might he .'swayed by opinions relative to those facts,-expressed by' persons’who come' ' before' them- • in'• the• 'éharacter' bfwi'tfié'sses;” '' Best' 'oii' the' Principles of Evidence, see. 3:44.." ........

The exceptions to the rülé 'áro,'that'mp'ón all questions of science' or' skill, trade, "'and-others of á like kind, persons' instructed • in' the;' particular art "or science, called1' experts, may. give their opinions ;■ -medical men-may give their opinion. as'tb the cause of disease or death-; as-to-the consequences of wounds, and as to the sane or insane state of a [13]*13person’s mind as collected from-a number of circumstances; and as to other subjects of professional skill. Í Greenl. Et. sec. 440. "■ ”

This species of testimony is admitted on the ground that the opinions of witnesses possessing peculiar skill, are ' admissible whenever the subject matter of inquiry is such that inexperienced persons are unlikely to prove capable of forming a correct judgment upón it without such assistance; in othei words, when it so far' partakes'of the-nature of a science or art, as'to require á course of previous habit or study in order to attain a knowledge of it. 1. Smith’s Leading Cases, 286. Best on Evidence, sec. 346. ■

It was held by the court in this case, that 'the opinions of non-professional witnesses could' not be 'allowed, as to the sanity of James McCarthy; and it is "now argued for the defendants, in support of the ruling' of the' court, that such testimony is fordidden by the very nature of the rule above referred to; that such witnesses are not experts, and that the law presumes the jury to be as capable of drawing correct conclusions and inferences from facts, as those who have no peculiar sources of knowledge to guide them in forming their opinions, which are not presumed to be equally within the reach of the jury.

Eor the plaintiff, the executor named in the will, it is argued that this species of evidence is admissible on the ground that positive and direct evidence is wholly unattainable, and that a resort to opinions furnishes the only available means of arriving at the truth in such cases; that the difficulty of spreading the -whole case before the jury by a detail of the acts and conversations of the party, when the question relates to his mental capacity, would render it impracticable in many cases to come to a satisfactory conclusion, without receiving, to some extent, the opinions of witnesses; and that such species of testimony forms a well defined exception to the rule which excludes the opinion of a witness.

In the case of Dewitt v. Barly, et al, 5, Selden 371, the ques[14]*14tions to the witness were: “ Whether, in the opinion of the witness, Dewitt, the grantor in the deed, was capable of managing his affairs and business ? ” and “ whether he had capac- ■ itj to comprehend and transact business ? ” The court held these questions inadmissible; and while admitting that, on subjects of science, skill and trade, the opinions of experts were allowed on the principle that the jury have not the same knowledge on these matters as such witnesses, and that they need to be enlightened by the opinions of those possessing knowledge in regard to them, they yet held the exception to the rule, excluding the opinions of witnesses, as distinguished from facts, was never extended to the admission of the opinions of laymen upon questions of mental capacity.

The same case was again before the Court of Appeals of New York, 8 Smith, 340, and the court, in part at least, overrule the former decision, while conceding at the same time that the questions to the witness, above set forth, were improper, upon the principle that opinions, when permissible to be given in evidence, must be confined to the facts alone, and must not embrace matters of law as well as facts. A distinction is held by the court to exist in the application of the rule in cases of mental imbecility arising from age or natural decay, and cases of hallucination, or partial derangment of the mental powers. In cases of idiocy or imbecility, they say, the opinion of the witness is denied from indications which are equally patent to all, and a man of sound judgment and experience in life can observe these indications and draw just inferences from them, as well without, as with a scientific education. In such cases, it is held by the court, the opinions of non-professional men may be given in evidence to show the state of mind of the party.

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Bluebook (online)
9 Iowa 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pelamourges-v-clark-iowa-1859.