Shaw v. Bryant

This action was begun June 29, 1885, to charge the funds belonging to Agnes 0. Bryant and Amanda I. Bryant, infants, in the custody o£ the Farmers’ Loan & Trust Company, with the value of board and rooms furnished them, and for .money advanced and expended for necessaries; also to recover a judgment against Garolan ORvien Bryant for board and rooms furnished and money advanced to him. The action was tried before a referee, and a judgment recovered by the plaintiff, which was reversed. 65 Hun, 57 ; 47 St. Rep. 227 . Afterwards the special term granted leave to serve an amended complaint, which order was affirmed. The infants became of age before the trial which resulted in the judgment under review, their estate was transferred to them, and the action was discontinued against the Farmers’

“C. O’B. Bryant, Esq., Guardian, to Grand Union

Hotel, Dr.

1884.

Dec. 31. To amount of account as rendered. $6,565 56

1885.

Jan. 7. meals and room 1 week..., $82 95

14. U U tí Li (Í 75 25

21. 6Í U U 84 25

28. U U U 79 70

29. a u day. 10 14 332 29

$6,897 85

29 days’ int. on ac’t to Oct.

29, ’84........ §8,168 75

§34 90

26 days’ int. on

Nov. account... 407 40 1 47

$35 37

11 99 24 38

$6,922 23

Dec. 31. To amt. of cash acc’t rendered.. $8,216 34

Jan. 29. “ 29 days’ int. on

acc’t to Dec. 1 ’84. $7,886 17 31 56

“ cash............ 100 00

“ 22 days’ int...... 100 30 8,348 20 30.

$15,270 43

“New York, Jan. 29, 1885.

“ I have examined the above bill, and find it correct, and approve the same. The charges therein were for supplies and maintenance of my two children,.Agnes 0. and Amanda I. Bryant, for whom I am the general guardian, and were furnished under and by my direction. The moneys therein advanced were for the same purposes. Oarolan O’B. Bryant, (Guardian.

Defendants’ Exhibit No. 1 is a duplicate of plaintiff’s Exhibit 0, except there was indorsed thereon the following:

“ Copy signed and approved by 0. O’B. Bryant,' guardian.

J. E. Shaw.”

Mr. Bryant testified that this indorsement, including the signature, was written by James E. Shaw.

April 2', 1885, when the defendants left the plaintiff’s hotel,. another settlement was had, as shown by defendants’ Exhibit No. 3, of which the following is a copy :

“ 0. O’B. Bryant. Esq., (Guardian, to (Grand Union Hotel, Dr.

1885.

Feb. 17. To balance as rendered.................$15,327 66

April 2, 1885, add 44 days at 5 percent.. 93 67

April 2. Difference of interest of 1 per cent, on int.

paid at 6 per cent., viz.: 450—1.6....... 75

$15,496 33

Feb. 4. To meals and room as rendered... $77 45

Less Jan. 29, included in previous

bill,......................... 10 14

$67 13

Feb. 11. Meals and room 1 week......... 75 00

“18. “ “ “ 76 40

“ 25. “ . “ “ 76 45

Mch. 4. “ “ “ 71 72

“11. “ “ “ 7 00

“18. “ “ “ 7 00

“25. “ “ “ 7 00

Api. 1. “ “ “ ......... 7'00

“2. “ “ “ Id......... 1 395 88

$15,892 21

.“New York, April 2nd, 1885.

“ Received from Carolan O’B. Bryant his check for eight hundred and ninety-two'21-100 dollars on account oí the above bill, leaving due on April 2, 1885,' of fifteen thousand dollars. $15,-000.00.

“[Signed] ' Julia A. Shaw.

“By James E. Shaw, Atty.

“Or. (Adjusted and Deffrd.).

By amount deferred interest acct. computed

to Jan. 1, 1888.....................$8,402 00

By tax lease settlements, loan and purchase com. acct. as rendered and adjusted, not

to exceed.......................... 6,508 00

-$15,000 00”

By whom and when the words beginning with the abbreviation *“ Or.” and ending with “$15,000” were written, was a disputed question. Carolan O’Brien Bryant testified they were written by one of the plaintiff’s clerks. The sum represented by this statement—$15,000—was the amount for which the referree rendered a judgment against the defendants. An accord and satisfaction of this admitted amount was not pleaded as a defense in the original answers, but July 23,1886, James E. Shaw, plaintiff’s husband and agent, died, and in the amended answers filed February '25, 1893, the defendants pleaded an accord and satisfaction entered into with him on or about April 2, 1885. To establish this defense the defendants put in evidence a statement of account marked “Exhibit No. 2,” of which the following is a copy:

“C. O’B. Bryant, Esq., Guardian, to Grand Union Hotel, 1885. Dr.

Jan. 29. To amount of acct. as rendered.......... $15,270 48

Feb. 17. Add 19 days interest 5 per cent.. $ 40 30

Difference of int. of 1 per

ct. paid at 6 per ct.. $230 00

' “ “ “ “ 450 00

“ “ “ “ 1,044 17

1.6 of $1,724 17 287 36 327 66

Feb. 17. By check for.

Or.

$15,598 09 270 43

$15,327 66

“Credits Balanced and Deferred.

“0. O’B. Bryant in Account with Julia A. Shaw.

1885. Dr.

Jan. 29. To bal. due Gr’d U. Hotel

cert, as.......... .....$15,270 43 $15,000 00

Feb. 17. By credits accrued and accruing deferred to final payment of mortgages, June 1,

1888, as adjusted____.... $15,000 00

Difference cash, $270.43 balance deferred as above, $15,000 to end of term $15,000 00

Balance and closed without recourse to

new acct. remainders............. $327 66

“Satisfaction herein acknowledged and duplicate exchanged in release of all claims and accounts. Difference.in interest adjusted cash, signed and witnessed in each other’s presence. One dollar consideration received in hand, New York, Feb. 17, 1885.

James B. Shaw, Atty.’.’

Mr. Bryant testified that this exhibit was in the handwriting of one of plainitff’s clerks, down to and including the figures “$15,-327.66,” and that from that point down to the figures “327.66” the exhibt was in his handwriting. He testified that the paragraph beginning with the word “satisfaction" and ending with the figures. “1885” was written by “some of Mr. Shaw’s people,” but he did not know by whom. He also testified that the signature “James B. Shaw, Atty.,” was written by Mr. Shaw, and' that he (Bryant). saw him write it. Whether the signature to the above receipt was genuine or forged, and whether the paragraph preceding the signature was written by Carolan O’Brien Bryant, were sharply contested issues on the’ trial, and the referee found that the signature was a forgery. It is asserted that this finding is contrary to the weight of evidence. After examining the original document, reading the evidence, and considering the circumstances, we are satisfied that the learned referee correctly determined this issue. In his opinion he said:

“ The referee does not entertain the slightest doubt that the exhibit offered on behalf of the defendants, as to which such a warm controversy arose, and such voluminous éxpert evidence was introduced upon the trial, was not in fact signed by Mr. Shaw. Under these circumstances, it is not necessary to proceed any further, either to characterize the instrument as a forgery, or to attempt to declare who perpetrated such forgery. It is enough to find, as has been done, that the receipt was not signed (By Mr. Shaw, and was not the act or deed of the plaintiff.”

In this we concur.

As before stated, the issue whether the signature of “James B. Shaw, Atty.,” to defendants’ Exhibit No. 2, was genuine or forged, was sharply contested on the trial, and so was the issue whether the paragraph immediately preceding the signature was or was not written by Carolan O’Brien Bryant. The plaintiff undertook the burden of showing that the paragraph and signature wers both written by him, and, to support her contention, experts, in handwriting were called and comparisons instituted between signatures of James B. Shaw, shown to be genuine, and the one in dispute, and comparisons were also instituted between a writing of Carolan O’Brien Bryant, admitted to be genuine, and the disputed satisfaction and signature thereto. The counsel for the defendants insists that the referee erred in permitting comparisons of the latter kind, and in allowing one of the experts to testify to similarity between the challenged paragraph and the document written by Mr. Bryant, and marked “Exhibit U.” Chapter 36 of the Laws of 1880 provided :

“Section 1. Comparison of a disputed writing, with any writing proved to the satisfaction of the conn to be genuine, shall be per

“ Sec. 2. This act shall take effect immediately.”

In Peck v. Callaghan, 95 N. Y. 73 , it was held in 1884, that the statute did not authorize a comparison of an alleged forged signature with the writing of the alleged forger, which was followed in Bruyn v. Russell, 52 Hun, 17 ; 22 St. Rep. 374 . For the purpose of obviating the effect of the first decision, and enlarging the scope of the statute, chapter 555 of the Laws of 1888 was enacted, which provides:

“ Section 1. Section two of chapter thirty-six of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty, entitled ‘ An act to amend the law of evidence and practice on civil and criminal trials,’ is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Sec. 2. Comparison of a disputed writing with any writing proved to the satisfaction of the court to be the genuine handwriting of any person, claimed on the trial to have made or executed the disputed instrument, or writing shall be permitted and submitted to the court and jury in like manner. But nothing within contained shall affect or apply to any action or proceeding heretofore commenced or now pending.

It is asserted that the act of 1880 was superseded by the act of 1888, and that the saving clause of the latter act takes the case at bar, which was begun June 19, 1885, out,of that act, and that the rules existing prior to 1880 in respect to the comparison of handwriting are applicable to this case. In determining whether the latter act supersedes the former one, it should be observed that section 2 of the act of 1880 simply provides, “ This act shall take effect immediately,” and it is this section, instead of section 1, which is amended by the act of 1888. See, also, Mortimer v. Chambers, 43 St. Rep. 365 . But, admitting that the rules of evidence existing prior to 1880 are applicable to this action, the defendants’ contention cannot be sustained. Before the passage of the first statute it was the rule in this state that comparisons might be instituted between the disputed signature and other writings shown to be genuine, and admitted as evidence in the case upon the issues involved, and not solely for the purpose of comparison. Exhibit U, which the defendants admitted • was written by Mr. Bryant, is not contained in the record. It is referred to at several' places, but no statement of its contents is given. At page 690 it is referred to as follows: “Exhibit IT.IT. P. W., Referee. (The original exhibit shall be referred to and handed up on argument.)” It was not handed to the court on argument. The counsel for the defendants insists that Exhibit II. was admitted in evidence as a specimen of Garolan O’Brien Bryant’s handwriting, for the sole purpose of comparison, and refers to folios 1043 and 1045 to sustain the contention. Garolan O’Brien Bryant was under cross-examination, and the following occurred:

Turning again to the part of the record where about 200 exhibits are printed, we find (folio 2083) that it is stated that Exhibit Z and Exhibits Z, 1, 2, and 8 were introduced “for comparison of handwriting,” and are not printed. Again, at folios 2089 and 2090, it is stated that Exhibits 23 and 26 were introduced bv defendants “to show handwriting,” and that defendants’Exhibits Nos. 1 to 93 were introduced “to show signatures only,” but we find no such statement in respect to Exhibit U. This case was made up by appellants, and the burden of showing error is upon them, and we cannot presume from this record, and in the absence of the exhibit, that it was introduced in evidence solely for the purpose of comparing Oarolan O’Brien Bryant’s handwriting with the last paragraph and signature of Exhibit No. 2. In Miles v. Loomis, 75 N. Y. 288 , which arose before the statute of 1880, it was held that:

“ Where the instruments, the signatures to which are thus compared, were, for aught that appears in the case, offered in evidence for other purposes than comparison, and were received without •objection, it cannot be objected upon appeal that they were immaterial for any other purpose, and so could not be used for comparison. Having been received without objection, they must be regarded as property in evidence for all the purposes of the case.”

By referring to what occurred when Exhibit II was offered in evidence, it will be seen that the defendants' counsel did not object to its admission. Under this state of facts, and the authority last referred to, we must assume that Exhibit U was received in evidence without objection, and not solely for the purpose of instituting a comparison of handwritings. Exhibit U having been properly received in evidence, it was competent to institute a comparison between it and the' disputed release and signature thereto. The plaintiff undertook to establish affirmatively that the release which forms a part of defendants’ Exhibit No. 2 was in the handwriting of Oarolan O’Brien Bryant. This was a distinct and relevant issue, which the plaintiff had a right to tender and try, and it was competent to show a similarity between the handwriting of the release and of Exhibit U. Pontius v. People,

The counsel for the appellants urges that it was error to permit witnesses to use ninety-two or ninety-three checks signed by James E. Shaw as standards of comparison. The genuineness of these •checks was established by Mr. Bryant on his cross-examination, at page 280 etseq., and were marked for identification. The appellant’s counsel says in his brief that these checks were never offered in evidence in behalf of the plaintiff, but were used as standards for the comparison of handwriting. At page 697 of the ■case the following appears:

“Defendants’ Exhibit No. 26, T. P. W., referee, introduced to ■show handwriting, and shall be produced and referred on argument. Exhibit Checks. No. 1-93, inclusive, were introduced to show signatures only. They shall be produced on argument, and and may be referred to.”

Thus the case shows that these checks were introduced by the defendants for the very purpose for which they were used. No error prejudicial to the appellants was committed in admitting or rejecting evidence upon the issue whether the contested part of Exhibit No. 2 was in the bandwriting of Carolan O’Brien Brvant.

The young ladies were not sworn on the trial, and neither they nor the father contested the correctness of the claim as presented, ' and the only defense sought to be established on the trial was payment. But it is urged that the referee erred in not ascertaining the amount for which each of the defendants was liable upon legal principles. It is insisted, that the referee should have found

This rule, as applied to this case, is not in conflict with the judgment of this court when this case was first before it. 65 Hun, 57 ; 47 St. Rep. 227 . The referee on the first trial divided the claim into three parts, and entered judgment against each of the defendants for one-third. It was said in the opinion that the referee made an arbitrary decision. Such was not the determination of the referee on the present trial. The amount for which each defendant was held liable was founded on evidence which we think supports the decision.

The learned counsel for the respondent makes the following concessions in his points. There are some of the items which will plainly need correction by this court

The following items should be deducted from the joint account of Agnes and Amanda Bryant, and added to the charge against Carolan O’B. Bryant, there being no proof that the expense was incurred for the use or benefit of the children : a

Dec. 12, 1883. Voucher K74a, page 628............... $200

Jan. 8, 1884. Charge for “appraisement,” no voucher.. .. 20

Jan. 9, 1884. Voucher K81, page 632................. 487

Feb. 2, 1884. Voucher K90, page 639................. 25

Feb. 29, 1884. Voucher K104, page 647___............. 50

June 11, 1884. Voucher- K150, page 669................ 28

July 31, 1884. Voucher K163, page 675 ................. 150

Nov. 10, 1884. Voucher K166, page 679................ 25

The following items should be deducted from the family account, and charged to Carolan O’B. Bryant alone to wit:

July 26, 1883.

Voucher K10, page 595, should be deducted from the hotel bill, the item for “ wine and bar .................. $9 00

July 30, 1883.

Voucher Kll, page 596,“Barnun’s Hotel,” there being no proof that it was for the family................. 150 00

June 3, 1883.

Voucher K12a, page 597, should be deducted for wines, etc....... 2 20

Aug. 4, 1883.

Voucher K14, page 508, should be deducted, wines, $17 40; cash $25 00,—■ making........................... 42 40

Voucher K139, page 665, there being no proof that the books were for the family............................250 00'

The following item should be deducted from the charge against Amanda Bryant, and added to the charge against Agnes, it being clearly a clerical mistake:

Feb. 20, 1884. Voucher K102, page 645............$112 90

These clerical errors are not pointed out and complained of by the counsel for the appellants.

The judgment entered in this action should be modified in accordance with the concessions above stated, and as modified affirmed, without costs to either party.

O’Brien, J., concurs; Van Brunt, P. J., concurs in result.