State v. Baird

89 P. 298, 13 Idaho 126, 1907 Ida. LEXIS 28
Idaho Supreme Court·Decided February 7, 1907·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinions

SULLIVAN, J.

This action was commenced to recover the sum of $1,000 upon a bail bond executed for the appearance of Ira Baird to answer a charge of felony in the district [130]*130court and alleged in the complaint to have been forfeited, by proper order duly made and entered.

The defendant. Ira Baird, was served with summons, but failed to appear in the action. The other two defendants appeared and answered and set up three defenses. In the first, they denied the execution of the bond sued on; in the second, they alleged that before the order of forfeiture was made the state, through its officers, arrested and took into custody the said Ira Baird without the permission of his sureties; and in the third defense, they alleged that the appellants, together with one P. H. B. Moulton, did on the fifteenth day of April, 1904, execute an undertaking for the appearance of said Ira Baird to answer the charge against him in said criminal action in the penal sum of $1,500, and that afterward, and without the knowledge and consent of the defendants, said undertaking was altered and changed by changing the penal sum from $1,500 to $1,000, and by striking out the name of said Moulton as one of the sureties from the body of the bond as well as from the end thereof, and from out the affidavit of justification; and that the said bond so altered is the identical bond sued on; that appellants never assented to said alterations nor agreed to be bound thereby, and never agreed to be bound as sureties for the appearance of said Ira Baird to answer said charge.

Upon the issues thus made the cause was tried by the court without a jury. The court made findings of fact and entered judgment against the appellants for the penal sum of the bond. The appeal was taken from the judgment within sixty days after the entry thereof. Numerous. errors ar.e assigned, going to the admission and rejection of certain testimony' and the making and failure to make certain findings of fact.

The main contention of the counsel for the defendant is based upon changes by erasure and- interlineation made in the bail bond, the original of which is before us. The changes were: 1. The penalty of the bond was reduced from $1,500 to $1,000; and 2. The signature of the surety Moulton, which was appended to thé bond at the time it was signed [131]*131by the defendants, Ben Baird and Carrol Baird, was subsequently stricken off.

There is some controversy over the date of the filing of the bond. The filing date on the bond is April 15, 1904, while the evidence shows that the alterations were made on the sixteenth day of April, 1904. There evidently was a mistake in the date of filing the bond, as the evidence shows that the bond was not delivered until the sixteenth day of April, 1904.

The defendant Ben Baird testified as follows: “I never at any time after this bond was altered and in its present form, acknowledged to Judge Jeffreys, the committing magistrate, that I executed it.”

Carrol Baird testified as follows: “I did not appear before Judge Jeffreys after these changes were made and acknowledged the bond.”

Those witnesses further testified that they did not consent to or authorize any alteration in the bond. They further testified that the bond was changed from what it was when they signed it and specified wherein the changes were. One of the defendants testified as follows: “Neither myself nor Ben Baird, in my presence, took part in any conversation with Mr. Feltham in his office, or elsewhere, in regard to any changes being made in the bond, nor the erasure of Mr. Moulton’s name.”

It is evident from the foregoing that the two defendants in this action expressly deny their consent to any alteration in the bond, and their testimony is unequivocal upon the point that the bond sued upon is not the bond they signed.

Mr. Feltham, who prepared the bond, was a witness for the state and testified that all of the changes and alterations made in said bond were made previous to the delivery of the bond, and either in the actual presence of or by the express direction of the defendants, and with their entire consent. Mr. Feltham testified in part as follows:

“Q. Now, you may state, Mr. Feltham, if you had any conversation with the two defendants in this case relative to reducing that bond from $1,500 to $1,000 ? A. Yes. At [132]*132this evening session at my office this matter was thoroughly discussed, at which were present the defendants, Ira Baird, Carrol Baird and Ben Baird, and Portloek, and I don’t know but that Moulton was there part of the time.

“Q. Now, in pursuance of that understanding, state whether that bond was changed from $1,500 to $1,000 before filing, and with the consent of the defendants? A. Tes, sir; it was never filed, so far as I know, until the next day, which was Saturday morning. There was a general understanding among us all at .this meeting, at which these two defendants were present, that I was to make an effort to reduce that bond, as it was excessive.”

And in regard to striking Moulton’s name from said bond, Mr. Feltham testified as follows:

“It was at Pont. Moulton’s instructions and the instructions of the others that I struck out Moulton’s name. I did this myself. This is all in my handwriting except the phrase ‘C. Baird $1,000’; I did not write that in. I think the change referred to in the last answer was Mr. C. Baird’s writing; it wasn’t mine anyway. This bond is in the same condition as it was when it left my hands. ’ ’

It will be observed from the foregoing that there is a substantial conflict in the evidence upon the point under consideration, and the testimony of Feltham shows the facts and circumstances of the change, and the testimony of the defendants and Moulton shows that they knew nothing about or ever consented to.a change. The court believed the testimony of Feltham and found accordingly, and under the well-established rule in such cases, the finding of the court will not be disturbed upon that point. The law is well settled that a change made by authority or with the consent of a party, or in his presence and with his privity, must be accorded the same effect as if made with his own hand, and the general rule is that a change made with the consent of the parties to the instrument does not avoid it. (2 Cyc. .155.) And consent may be proved by parol evidence. (Speake v. United States, 9 Cranch, 28, 3 L. ed. 645.)

[133]*133Counsel next assigned as error the admission of the bond in evidence, because of its alteration, and cites the case of Mulkey v. Long, 5 Idaho, 213, 47 Pac. 949, in support of the contention. This court in that case said: “The party presenting an instrument which upon its face shows that it has been altered is required to explain such alteration, or at least show that it has not been altered since it came to his hands.....We think, therefore, that the exigency of the statute is complied with when the party presenting the instrument in evidence has shown that there has been no alteration therein since it came to his hands.”

In this case the state is the party plaintiff presenting the altered instrument, and under the rule laid down in Mulkey v. Long, it would be necessary to show that the undertaking was not altered since it came into the hands of the state.

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State v. Baird, 89 P. 298, 13 Idaho 126, 1907 Ida. LEXIS 28 (Idaho 1907).

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