Konicz v. Orient Insurance

Citations

• 17 Pa. Super. 550
• 1901 Pa. Super. LEXIS 354

Syllabus

<p>Practice, O. P. — Reservation of question of law — Objection to form.</p> <p>The rules applicable to a reservation of a question of law are (1) the question must be one of law purely unmixed with any question of fact ; (2) it must be one which rules the case so completely that its decision will warrant a binding instruction ; (3) the question must be clearly stated, and the facts on which it arises must be admitted on the record or found by the jury, in order that exceptions may be taken and a review had. A reservation which violates any of these rules is incurably bad, and a judgment entered in pursuance, of it, will be reversed whether an exception has been taken or not.</p> <p>Where several points are presented by the court, one of which is “ that upon the whole case the verdict should be for the defendant,” and the court reserves the points as follows : “ We reserve the questions of law raised by the above points,” and the plaintiff excepts to the charge of the court, and “ the rulings therein,” and a bill is sealed, the plaintiff is in a position to object to the form of the reservation.</p> <p>Where a question is clearly stated in a point, but the facts upon which it arose were not stated in the point, nor otherwise admitted on the record, nor found by the jury, the point cannot be reserved as a proper reservation of a question of law.</p> <p>The question “whether under all the evidence” or “upon the whole testimony,” or “ upon the whole case,” the plaintiff is entitled to recover, cannot be reserved because it involves the drawing of inferences of fact from the evidence, which is the province of the jury.</p> <p>The court under objection reserved the following point in an action upon a fire policy : “ The uncontradicted testimony being that the second proof of loss was not signed or sworn to by the insured, but that insured’s name was signed thereto by the justice of the peace, who affixed his jurat thereto, without having administered an oath to the plain