Kuhl v. Kuhl

Citations

• 124 Cal. 57
• 56 P. 629
• 1899 Cal. LEXIS 940

Syllabus

<p>Divorce—Extreme Cruelty—Evidence—Plaintiff not Corroborated. A divorce cannot he granted upon the uncorroborated testimony •of the plaintiff; and acts of extreme cruelty testified to by the plaintiff without me slightest corroboration, and denied by the defendant, are not proved by evidence upon which the court could base a finding for the plaintiff.</p> <p>Id.—Charge after Desertion—Stealing Wife’s Property—Speculation in Stocks—Absence of Malice.—A charge by the wife against the husband of stealing her diamonds and sealskin saeque, made after his desertion of her, cannot form any justification or excuse for the desertion; and where the evidence indicates that the wife's charge was, not malicious, but was made in the rea son-able Delief that he had taken the property to raise money tfiereon with which to speculate in stocks, after she had declined his request that she would raise money for that purpose, and there is evidence that the husband acknowledged that he deserted his wife by reason of disappointment in money matters, and that he supposed she was wealthy and would let him have money, the charge made by the wife after his desertion of her does not amount to extreme cruelty.</p> <p>Id.—Extreme Crueviy—Questions of Law and Fact.—What constitutes extreme cruelty, as a cause of divorce, is matter of law; hut whether the evidence shows such conduct is a question of fact. Ordinarily, what constitutes extreme cruelty is a mixed question' of law and fact; and where the evidence, assuming it to be true, is not legally sufficient, the court may so decide as a question of law.</p> <p>1 d —Judgment upon Merits—Dismissal—Res Adjudicata.—A judgment •rendered upon the merits after the trial of an action for divorce, dismissing the action, in the usual form in equitable actions, does not permit of a relitigation of the issues, unless the dismissal is expressly made without prejudice to a new action.</p>