Engleby v. Harvey

Citations

• 93 Va. 440
• 25 S.E. 225
• 1896 Va. LEXIS 94

Syllabus

<p>1. Contracts—Entire Promise—Statute of Frauds—Case at Bar.—Where a verbal contract is entire, and relates in part to a matter which renders it necessary under the statute of frauds that the promise should be in writing, the whole promise is void. In the case at bar the promise which is relied on as the basis of the suit was made by an agent without evidence that he was authorized to make any such promise, or that it was at all within the scope of his duties or employment. Furthermore, it was the verbal promise of one to pay the debt of another. The evidence does not support the allegation that the two parties were partners, or joint contractors.</p> <p>2. Fraud Must be Proved—Innocence Presumed—Case at Bar.—He who alleges fraud must, except in a particular class of cases, clearly and distinctly prove it. The law never presumes fraud, but the presumption is always in favor of innocence, and not of guilt. In the case at bar, the assignment by the sub-contractor to another of the amount coming to him under the contract, in order to enable the sub-contractor to raise money to carry on that and other jobs, furnishes no ground for a claim of an intended fraud on a lumberman whose debt had not been created at the date of the assignment, though, under a contract with the general contractor, the lumberman subsequently furnished him lumber which was used by the sub-contractor in doing, the work.</p>