5 Gratt. 31 | Va. | 1848
delivered the opinion of the Court.
It appears to the Court, that since the trial of the action upon the indemnifying bond, the appellant has discovered material evidence tending to prove that the deed of trust of the 7th October 1840, is, so far as the same purports to have been made for the security and indemnity of the appellees James C. Sears and Henry Sears, fraudulent and void ; and that the failure to procure and furnish said evidence at said trial, is not to be attributed to any want of diligence on the part of the appellant. If, therefore, the questions involved in the defence to said action were cognizable only at law, and could be there fully and fairly presented and tried, this Court would feel no hesitation in deciding that the Court below ought to have granted the appellant a new trial. The said deed, however, purports to have been made not only for the benefit of the said James C. and Henry Sears, but also to secure to George Booth the payment of a debt, as to which there is no proof or allegation that said deed is not a valid security. In this state of things the Court is not satisfied that to grant a new trial to the appellant, would be to extend to him the proper relief, inasmuch as his defence founded on the alleged fraud in the deed of trust might be successfully met or greatly embarrassed by the objection that the plaintiff ought not to be wholly defeated of his action, unless the deed were void in toto ; and that it would be improper so to pronounce a conveyance made in part, for the indemnity of a fair and bona fide creditor, having no notice of any dishonest purpose on the part of the grantor. The Court is also of opinion, that the appellaut, apart from his right, under the circumstances of this case, to impeach said deed in a Court of Chancery, notwithstanding his unsuccessful effort to do so at law, had a right