Thorne v. Joy

Citations

• 15 Wash. 83
• 45 P. 642
• 1896 Wash. LEXIS 140
• 1896 WL 245

Syllabus

<p>-TRIAL BY COURT — SUFFICIENCY OF FINDINGS — WITNESSES—TRANSACTIONS WITH DECEDENTS — REOPENING CASE — EVIDENCE — PROOF AFFECTING WRITTEN INSTRUMENTS.</p> <p>The fact that findings of fact made by the court are obscure, indefinite and uncertain, and do not set out the specific facts established by the proofs, cannot be urged as error, when the decree based thereon is one dismissing the action for the reason that plaintiffs had failed to make out a case</p> <p>The rule excluding the testimony of an interested ,party in an action against the executor of a deceased person, will apply to one who has conveyed away his interest in the land which is the subject matter of the action by a deed absolute on its face but in reality only a mortgage, even though, for the purpose of rendering his testimony competent, he execute a release of his right to redeem.</p> <p>Agreements and arrangements entered into with a deceased person cannot be given in evidence in an action against his executor by parties whose interests are adverse, even if competent as to another defendant in the action, when the relief sought against such other defendant is incidental to the principal object sought by the action against such executor, and when the court has not been sufficiently advised as to the restrictive purpose for which the evidence was offered.</p> <p>It is within the discretion of the trial court to reopen the case for the introduction of additional testimony.</p> <p>Where the object of an action is to affect a written instrument, only clear and satisfactory proof will justify a decree in favor of the plaintiffs.</p>