Walker v. Hunter

17 Ga. 364
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedFebruary 15, 1855
DocketNo. 66
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 17 Ga. 364 (Walker v. Hunter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walker v. Hunter, 17 Ga. 364 (Ga. 1855).

Opinion

By the Court.

Benning, J.

delivering the opinion.

Was it right to grant the new trial ? That is the sole .question in this case.

The Court below put its decision granting a new trial, on a number of grounds, ,viz: That the paper propounded as the will of Hunter had not been proven, in solemn form, to be his will.

That the execution of that paper had not been sufficiently-proven.

That the verdict of the Jury was contrary to the evidence and the weight of the evidence — contrary to the charge of the Court and contrary to law.

That one of the Counsel for Walker entertained at his • house one night during the trial, Walker and two of the Jury.

That the paper in the hand-writing of Solomon, found by the Jury in their room, was calculated to mislead the Jury.

If any one or more of these grounds were good, whether the others were good or not, the new trial was properly granted, and the judgment granting it ought to be affirmed. This Court might, therefore, content itself with pointing out such of the grounds as it considers good, if such there are, and go no further; but as the decision of-the Court below was placed on all the grounds, it will not be improper, and probably will be best, for obvious reasons, even in case of an affirmance, that this Court shall consider all the grounds, though it may think some only of them good. That, therefore, will be done. In doing it, however, the grounds will be taken up in a different order from that in which they have just been stated.

[402]*402Was the verdict contrary to the evidence, or to the weight of the evidence ? This is the ground I shall begin with.

As to this ground, the Counsel for the plaintiff in error say, first, that the verdict was not contrary to the evidence or to the weight of the evidence ; and secondly, that if the verdict was contrary to either, it was so only because a part of the evidence was illegal evidence, namely: so much as related to Charles Hunter — to his deed, to his will and to his property— so much as related to a former will of Wm. Hunter, and to the sayings of his wife, and so much as related to the sayings of Charles Walker and others, before he, Walker, became executor, or before the trial had been made.

The latter of these replies will be noticed first. Is it true that this part of the evidence was illegal evidence ?

The reason given by these Counsel for saying that the evidence relating to Charles Hunter, to his property, ■ to his will and to his deed, was illegal, was, that it was irrelevant; that it could have nothing to do with an issue concerning a paper propounded as the will of another man, Wm. Hunter.

What, then, was the issue and what the nature of the evidence in question ?

The caveator, among other things, alleged, in substance, that Charles Walker, with the design of acquiring for himself or a son, or both, the property of Wm. Hunter, a person not akin to either him or his son, by the use of undue influence and fraudulent contrivances, induced William Hunter to make the propounded paper as his will; that though, by that paper, a portion of Wm. Hunter’s property was given to Charles Hunter ; yet, that Charles Hunter was a person of great weakness of mind, and one entirely under the influence of Charles Walker, and that the giving of a portion of the property to Charles Hunter, was, in effect, the same as giving that portion directly to Charles Walker, as was proved by the result, which was, that Charles Hunter, after the death of Wm. Hunter, partly by deed and partly by will, gave all of the portion of the property given him by Wm. Hunter’s will to Charles Walker. This, in substance, is alleged by the caveator.

[403]*403Now so much of this allegation as refers to Charles Hunter, his property, his deed and his will, the evidence objected to about him, his property, his deed and his will, tends to prove. This becomes apparent by merely reading that evidence.

The position, therefore, that that evidence was illegal, because irrelevant, is not well founded.

The only reason assigned in argument, by the Counsel for the propounder of the paper, to show the evidence of Mrs. Wheat and Samuel Jemerson, giving the sayings of their mother, spoken after her marriage with Wm. Hunter, in relation to a former will made by Wm. Hunter, to have been illegal, was, that the evidence was hearsay — was only of the sayings of Mrs. Hunter.

But as to Mrs. Wheat, it is not apparent that this reason is true, in point of fact. It is true, Mrs. Wheat swore this: “ Witness’ mother made an effort through Mr. Wheat, her son-in-law, soon after the death of Dowsing, to get possession of said will, but was informed said will could not be found amongst Esquire Dowsing’s papers.” But that this contains any thing that is hearsay, is far from clear.

And as to the evidence of Jemerson, he does, indeed, say this: “ He once had a conversation with his mother, then the wife of Hunter, in which she informed him that her husband had made a will, and had given one half of his property to his people, and the other half to her people.” But then he imr mediately adds this: “ That some seven or eight years after the death of his mother, he communicated to Wm. Hunter what his mother had told him, and asked him if he had made such a will? and he answered, that he had, but that since the death of his wife he had burnt it.” And this addition makes what had been the sayings of the witness’ mother, become, in effect, the sayings of Hunter. And any sayings of his were legal evidence.

The reason, then, assigned by the Counsel for the propound-er, to show this evidence to have been illegal, is not sufficient.

The sayings of Chas. Walker, which it was argued were illegal evidence, were those proved by Mrs. Lyle, and one [404]*404proved by Humphrey Jemerson. And the objection to these sayings was, that they happened before the making of the paper propounded as Hunter’s will; and therefore, before Chas. Walker could have been executor of that will; and so, that the sayings, when made, were such as could,neither be against the interest of Walker, or as could hind those claiming under the paper propounded as the will of Hunter.

This objection to the evidence of both of these witnesses, as matter of fact, exists. And as to the evidence of one of them, Humphrey Jemerson, it is sufficient, as matter of law. But it is not so sufficient as to the evidence of the other, Mrs. Lyle, for her evidence is admissible on another ground. The sayings of Chas. Walker, to which she testifies, make part of the-transaction as much a part of it as does the fact that the-paper was executed at Chas. Walker’s house- make part of it. Those sayings are: “ that he, Wheat, was interested in the disposition of the property, and had more influence over him than any one else; and when he moved away somebody would get it, and that he, Mr. Walker, has as much right to it as any one else, apart from the legal heirs, and he would, after the removal of Mr. Wheat, nurse the old man and get it if he could.”

But as to the sayings testified to by Humphrey Jemerson, they manifestly make no part of the transaction — of any transaction in which Walker took part. They are merely to the effect, that the witness, that Humphrey Jemerson, not Walker, could influence Hunter to give him, Jemerson, all his property.

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Bluebook (online)
17 Ga. 364, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walker-v-hunter-ga-1855.