Collins v. Carlin

Citations

• 106 A.D. 204
• 94 N.Y.S. 317

Syllabus

<p>Evidence — what proof is necessary to make á time book,' containing entries of day’s work, competent — cross-examination as to the contents of such time book after objecting to its admission in evidence.</p> <p>On the trial of an action in which the sole issue was as to the number of days on which the plaintiffs had done work for the defendants, one of the plaintiffs testified that he was unable to state the number of days on which work was performed, but that such information was contained in a time hook and that ■he could only answer from the book. He testified that thé time books were , made .up from time given in by timekeepers; that the particular book in question was made up, by the timekeeper, under bis supervision, from the bookkeeper’s time book, and that the latter got “his time * * * from the men, himself.” He also testified that the men sometimes reported to him and sometimes he went “to the job” and that he' looked over the time book every day in order to see that it was correct. The bookkeeper was dead, but neither the timekeepers nor the workmen were sworn nor was their absence explained.</p> <p>Held, that it was improper for the court to allow the time book to be read in evidence.</p> <p>That, in order to authorize the reading of the time book in evidence, it was not enough for the plaintiffs to show that the entries in the time book were made by the bookkeeper, but that it was also necessary for them to show, by the timekeepers- or the workmen, that the reports made to the bookkeeper were correct;</p> <p>That the defendants were- not precluded from insisting that it was improper to' allow the time book to be read in evidence by the fact that, after their motion . to strike out the evidence relating to the entries 'in the time book had been. denied, they cross-examined the witness' as to the specific entries in the time book for the purpose of destroying or impairing the value of the time book as . evidence for the plaintiffs.</p>