Brown v. Luehrs

Citations

• 95 Ill. 195
• 1880 Ill. LEXIS 168

Syllabus

<p>1. Chancery—granting new trial at law. In order to justify a court of chancery in setting aside a judgment at law and granting a new trial, the case must appeal strongly to the chancellor for relief. It is by fixed and determinate rules alone that this jurisdiction will be exercised. It is never done capriciously or as a matter of mere discretion, nor because the court of chancery may differ from the jury on the finding of the facts upon the evidence.</p> <p>2. Nor will the new trial be granted unless the judgment has been obtained by fraud, accident or mistake, and without fault on the part of him who asks it.</p> <p>3. If, however, a party has made every effort in his power to discover evidence and fails, when afterwards discovered courts of equity treat this as an accident, and will, when satisfied that, such newly discovered evidence would have produced a different result if it had been known in proper time, and that the judgment is unjust, grant a new trial. But all these elements must concur before the relief will be granted.</p> <p>4. In this case, a witness had given his deposition, which was read on the trial of a suit at law, in which he testified that he had paid to one of the parties, for the other, a considerable sum of money, and the finding and judgment were the result of that testimony. Subsequently, and after the judgment was rendered, the same witness gave a second deposition, in which he staled that his former testimony, in regard to the payment of the money, was not true. The application for a new trial was based upon this second deposition, the party relying upon it to overcome the former. But on the facts appearing, it was considered the second deposition should not be given that effect. Moreover, the party seeking relief had not used proper diligence in ascertaining from the witness before the trial the grounds of the testimony he was apprised the witness was intending to give. Upon the whole case the relief was denied.</p>