Sloan v. Davis

74 N.W. 922, 105 Iowa 97
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedApril 8, 1898
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 74 N.W. 922 (Sloan v. Davis) 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
Sloan v. Davis, 74 N.W. 922, 105 Iowa 97 (iowa 1898).

Opinion

Gtven, J.

[100]*100 1

[101]*101 2

3 [99]*99— I. Several motions are submitted with the case; the first to claim our attention being .appel-lees'’ motion to strike from appellant’s abstract that [100]*100part purporting to set out the evidence, on the ground that neither the shorthand notes of the evidence, nor any translation or extension thereof, were ever certified to by either the official shorthand reporter or the judge who tried the- case. In support of this motion, appellees filed a certificate of the clerk of the district court, made May 17, 1897, to the effect that what purported to be the shorthand notes of the evidence were filed in his office December 28, 1895; and that the appearance docket shows- that the extension or transcript of said notes was filed on the second -day of December, 1896. He certifies that upon examination of said documents he finds that neither bears any certificate of the reporter or of the judge, nor any certificate whatever. Appellant, in resistance to said motion, filed the-affidavit of D. A. Wynkoop-, one of his attorneys, and the affidavits- of several persons who assisted Mr. Wynkoop in preparing the. abstract, to the effect that at the time the abstract was prepared the extension of the shorthand notes of the evidence did bear the certificate of the reporter and judge attached thereto, and their belief that the same had in some manner become detached. Appellant also filed the affidavits of several others as to- statements made by the reporter to the effect that he and the judge had certified the notes and •extension. Appellant having filed his motion in the district court to correct the record so- as to show that the extension of the shorthand notes was properly certified as of December 2, 1896, by the judge and the reporter, the case was continued in this court pending said motion. The motion was- heard in the district court December 7, 1897, “on affidavit and oral ■ testimony taken in open court,” and overruled. We are not called upon to review this' ruling, nor could we do so, as we have not the evidence before us upon which the ruling [101]*101was based. We must therefore accept it as an adjudicated fact that neither the shorthand notes nor the extension thereof were certified by either the reporter or the judge within six months from the rendition of the decree and judgments. Appellant shows, in denial of appellees’ additional abstract, that at a date which does not appear, but which was evidently long after the expiration of six months, the reporter did certify the shorthand notes. It is manifest, however, that neither the shorthand notes! nor the extension thereof were ever certified by the judge. Pending this motion to strike the evidence, appellant moved this court to modify and waive the rules in regard to certification of the evidence in this case, upon several grounds. This motion is based upon section ninety of the rules of this court, which provides, “When, by reason of peculiar circumstances, the foregoing rules relating, to the abstract, preparation and argument of causes, ought to be waived or modified in any case,” such modification or waiver may be granted upon proper application. It will be observed that this provision relates to the preparation of the abstract and argument, and not to the authentication of the record. This motion to waive or modify the rule is based largely upon said affidavit, tending to show that the shorthand notes and translation thereof were properly certified; but, as we have seen, it has been judicially determined that such was not the fact. This motion' of appellant must be overruled, and we now proceed to consider appellees’ motion to strike, in the light of the statute and rules. Section 3173, Code 1873, provides that appeals may be taken to.this court “at any time within six months from the rendition of the judgment or order appealed from, and not afterward.” Section 2742 requires that evidence in equitable actions shall be taken in writing, and “ all the evidence so taken shall be [102]*102certified by the judge'.at any time within the time allowed for the .appeal of said cause, and be made a part of the record, and go on appeal to the supreme court which shall try the cause anew.” Section 3179, as amended by chapter 35, Acts Twenty-second General Assembly, after providing how appeals should be perfected, provided as follows: “But no transcript of the record need be forwarded to the supreme court until a denial of appellant’s abstract of the record has been served, and if no denial shall be made no transcript of the record shall be required.” This section was further amended by chapter 64, Acts Twenty-sixth General Assembly, as follows: “And the translation of the original notes of the shorthand reporter certified by him to be true and correct shall constitute a part of the record, and shall be sent up in its original form in lieu of a transcript thereof, when a transcript of the evidence is required, and shall be returned to the clerk of the proper county after the causie has been determined by the supreme court.” Appellant’s contention is that by this amendment it is only required that the translation of the evidence be certified by the reporter, and that such certification need not be made within the time allowed for an appeal. The amendment is expressly limited to section 3179, and, we think, was intended simply to avoid the labor and expense of transcribing the translation of the notes of the evidence by providing that the original translation, certified by the reporter, should be sent up, instead of a copy thereof by the clerk. This provision does not, by implication or otherwise, repeal the provision of said section 2742, which requires that all the evidence taken in equitable causes shall be certified by the judge within the time allowed for the appeal. See Blanchard v. De Voe, 80 Iowa, 521; Chapel v. Wadsworth, 85 Iowa, 742. Our conclusion is that appellant’s motion to modfy the rules [103]*103must be overruled, and that appellee’s motion to strike that part of the abstract purporting to set forth the evidence must be sustained.

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[106]*106 9

10 [103]*103II. Appellant presents twenty-three assignments of error, all of which, except the first eight, are unquestionably grounded upon rulings on the evidence; and, as the evidence is not before us, they cannot be considered. Defendant Davies, in his answer, sets out the stipulation of settlement of a case wherein he was plaintiff, and the plaintiff, Sloan, was defendant, and which stipulation is as follows: “In the District Court of Jackson County, Iowa. W. H. Davies, Plff., vs. John L. Sloan, Deft. Stipulation of Settlement. Whereas, on the 17th day of February, 1894, the above-named plaintiff did begin an action against the defendant herein for the sum of twenty thousand dollars, as damages for the seduction and alienation of his wife’s affections; and whereas, on the same day the same defendant, John L. Sloan, did in the presence of Wm.

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Bluebook (online)
74 N.W. 922, 105 Iowa 97, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sloan-v-davis-iowa-1898.