302 Mass. 239 | Mass. | 1939
The defendant appealed from an order in each case dismissing the report of the trial judge, who found for the plaintiff. All the cases are consolidated in a single report, which states that the only questions arising are those of the alleged illegal registration of the motor vehicle of which the plaintiffs were occupants, the knowledge of the plaintiffs as to the alleged illegal registration, and “the question of the plaintiffs’ contributory negligence.” By this reference to the plaintiffs’ “contributory negligence” it is assumed that it relates solely to the matter of the alleged illegal registration and the knowledge of some of the plaintiffs as to it, inasmuch as the defendants admit that there was sufficient evidence to warrant the judge in finding as a fact that “all the plaintiffs were in the exercise of due care.”
The automobile of which the plaintiffs were occupants was owned, controlled, and operated at the time of the injuries by the plaintiff Thomas Douey, hereinafter referred to as Douey. Douey testified that he came to this country in 1919 under the name of Theophilus Doucette; that he was married in 1921 under that name; that his parents’ name was Doucette; that his wife died in 1933 and, at that time, her name was Doucette; that he lived in Med-ford under the name of Doucette in 1933; that in 1926 he adopted one of the plaintiffs, Francis Douey; and that he “signed all papers and appeared in court” under the name of Theophilus Doucette. Without attempting to recite all of his testimony as to his true name, it is sufficient to say that he related many other instances where he had used the name of Doucette, and that the report states that “On every occasion presented to the plaintiff Thomas Douey, where formal signatures were necessary or where the matter at hand was of an official or legal nature, the plaintiff Thomas Douey used his true and legal name Theophilus
The appeals in the two cases in which Angie Doucette is the plaintiff have not been argued.
The findings of the trial judge will not be set aside if they can be supported on any reasonable view of the evidence with all rational inferences of which it is susceptible. Weiner v. Egleston Amusement Co. 293 Mass. 83, 86. The general finding is conclusive if there is any evidence to support it. Moss v. Old Colony Trust Co. 246 Mass. 139, 143. State Street Trust Co. v. Lawrence Manuf. Co. 284 Mass. 355, 359-360. The burden of proving that the registration in question was illegal rested upon the defendants. Conroy v. Mather, 217 Mass. 91, 94-96. If the Douey automobile
G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 90, provides, in § 2, that the application for the registration of a motor vehicle may be made by the owner thereof, and shall contain, among other things, a statement of the name of the applicant. See Harlow v. Sinman, 241 Mass. 462. It has repeatedly been held that the main purpose of registration is to afford identification of the owner and of the motor vehicle. Fairbanks v. Kemp, 226 Mass. 75, 78. Koley v. Williams, 265 Mass. 601, 603, and cases cited. Nash v. Lang, 268 Mass. 407, 409. Topf v. Holland, 288 Mass. 552. But that this is not the sole purpose of the statute. See Harlow v. Sinman, 241 Mass. 462, 464-465. In construing the provision of § 2, that the application shall contain a statement of the name of the applicant, who, in the case at bar, was the owner, the court said in Crompton v. Williams, 216 Mass. 184, at pages 186-187, “ ... an individual may adopt a trade name under which business can be transacted, actions instituted, or defended, and the title to property acquired and transmitted. . . . The plaintiff’s application and the registration followed the name in which he did business. But if registration under a fictitious name adopted for the purpose of concealing identity would not be a compliance with the statute, because the record would not show, nor the certificate contain, a descriptive statement by which the true owner could be ascertained, the jury properly could find that the plaintiff was well known in the community by his trade name. If this appeared, the requirements of the statute were satisfied.” In Koley v. Williams, 265 Mass. 601, the defendant’s name was Ethel M. Williams. She was the wife of John P. Williams, and the automobile was registered in the name of Mrs. John P. Williams. It was held, however, that she
In the cases in which Thomas Douey was the plaintiff, the judge declined to rule as requested by the defendants that “If the plaintiff registered his automobile in the name of Thomas Douey when in fact his legal name was Theophilus Doucette, then the plaintiff’s automobile was illegally registered unless there is evidence that the plaintiff
We think the defendants’ contention as to this ninth ruling comes within the principle stated in Freeman v. Robinson, 238 Mass. 449, where it was said at page 452: “A mistake in failing to follow a ruling of law, erroneously adopted, to a decision contrary to the rights of the parties on the facts found to be true, does not require a new trial when it is manifest that a just decision, in the light of the governing correct principle of law, has been made. It would be pushing a bald technical error to an absurd conclusion to direct a new trial because of such an error of law. Clearly the substantial rights of the defendants have not been injuriously affected. They have suffered no real harm.” See cases cited. Rathgeber v. Kelley, 299 Mass. 444, 446, and cases cited.
What has been said also disposes of the defendants’ contentions in the cases other than those in which Douey is the plaintiff.
We think that the judge could find for the plaintiffs, as he did, and that there was no error.
Orders dismissing reports affirmed.