Dock v. Dock

Citations

• 180 Pa. 14
• 36 A. 411
• 1897 Pa. LEXIS 861

Syllabus

<p>Evidence — Production of papers — Forgery—Discovery—Equity.</p> <p>Where there is an issue either direct or collateral on the forgery of papers, courts of either equity or law will compel their production for inspection in advance of trial.</p> <p>A party to an action at law may, before trial, maintain a bill for discovery of letters relied on by the other party to the suit and alleged to have been written by the plaintiff in the bill, but which said plaintiff alleges are forgeries.</p> <p>The production of private writings in which another person has an interest may be had by a bill of discovery in proper cases, or in trials at law by a writ of subpoena duces tecum. The courts of common law may also make an order for the inspection of writing in the possession of one party to a suit in favor of the other. Such order may also be obtained by the defendant on a special case such as if there is reason to suspect that the document is forged, and the defendant wishes that it may be seen by himself and his witnesses.</p> <p>If a party is entitled to the production of a deed or other document as being applicable to his case, his right to such discovery will not be affected by the circumstance that the same document is evidence for the other party’s case also.</p> <p>Letters — Property in letters — Writings.</p> <p>Letters written by one person to another are the latter’s property, and\\ he has a right not only to have them produced for use in litigation, but \\ delivered up to him as the true owner. /</p> <p>A writer of letters has a special property in them to prevent their pub- , lieation or communication to other persons for use for any illegal purpose j by the party wrongfully in possession of them.</p> <p>A bill in equity charged that the defendant surreptitiously and illegally took from the trunk of plaintiff’s son and from plaintiff’s own bureau cer- 1 tain letters written by plaintiff to her son, and by her son to her. Held, ' ' that the special right in the let