Smith v. Hine

Citations

• 179 Pa. 203
• 36 A. 222
• 1897 Pa. LEXIS 622

Syllabus

<p>Evidence — Reputation of witness for veracity.</p> <p>When at the trial of a cause the character of a witness is shown in order to affect his credibility, the question is whether he then told the truth. It is his character at the time he testified that is under investigation, and this is to be established by evidence of his general reputation at that time, and not his reputation at a time prior to the commencement of the suit, which may be a period remote from that at which he testifies.</p> <p>On an issue to determine the validity of a judgment, where two years have expired between the application for the issue and the trial, it is error to limit the inquiry as to the reputation of a witness whose character for veracity has been attacked, to a period of time prior to the filing of the petition to open the judgment.</p> <p>Evidence — Reputation of witness for veracity — Question for jury.</p> <p>When the character of a witness for truth and veracity is attacked, if it should appear from the evidence that his connection with the controversy on trial had become the subject of conversation and discussion in the neighborhood in which he lived, and that the reputation testified to was founded upon the expression of partisan opinions by those who had taken sides in the dispute, such facts may be considered by the jury in determining the weight to be given to the testimony for and against his character, but it is hot ground for its exclusion.</p> <p>Evidence — Stenographer's notes — Deposition—Act of May 22, 1887.</p> <p>The official stenographer’s notes of the testimony of a witness taken at a former trial of the same issue, are not a deposition, and if the stenographer is not sworn, they are not “ properly proven notes of the examination ” as required by section 9 of the act of May 24, 1887, P. L. 199,</p>