Riney v. Doll

Citations

• 116 Kan. 26
• 225 P. 1059
• 1924 Kan. LEXIS 9

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Note and Mortgage — Defense of Duress — Threats Insufficient to Constitute Duress. A threat in the alternative to give one a beating at some remote, future, indefinite time is not such a threat of personal violence as will constitute duress.</p> <p>2. Same — Duress. It is not duress for one to threaten to take such legal proceedings as the law affords to recover damages for claimed injuries.</p> <p>3. Same — Duress—Threat Not a Threat of Criminal Prosecution. A threat by one who claims damages from another to prosecute him to the full extent of the law is not tantamount to a threat of criminal prosecution.</p> <p>4. Same — Threats Amounting to Duress. Threats of personal violence or of criminal prosecution to amount to duress must be of such a character or made under such circumstances as to destroy the will of the one threatened to such an extent as to compel him to act in a manner contrary to his will and to his detriment.</p> <p>5. Same — Instruction Relating to Duress. An instruction that threats of criminal prosecution must be of such a character as to overcome the will of a person of ordinary firmness is erroneous, but, held,, under the facts in this case, not to constitute reversible error.</p>