4 Nev. 156 | Nev. | 1868
By the Court,
This appeal is from the order of the Court below refusing a new trial, and from the first judgment in the case, on the grounds : First. Insufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict, and that it is against law. Second. Error in law occurring at the trial and excepted to by defendants.
The questions of fact involved in the pleadings seem to have been fairly submitted to the jury, and its findings in favor of the plaintiff, it will not be disputed, are entirely consistent with and supported by the evidence ; provided, the evidence given by plaintiff’s witnesses as to material matters was true, and that the Court did not err in stating the law.
The first branch of this proposition — as to the credibility of the witnesses and the relative weight to be given to contradictory and opposing evidence — was passed on by the jury and afterwards considered by the District Court, on motion for a new trial, adversely to the defendants, and I can see no sufficient reason-why this Court should interfere with such verdict and ruling. Ordinarily, appel
The Court properly allowed the amendment of the complaint, respecting the value of the property. The defendants could not be prejudiced by amendments which in effect reduced the claim for damages from one thousand dollars to six hundred dollars.
Nor did the Court err in admitting as evidence the bills marked “ A,” “ B,” “ C,” and “ D.” The objection is entirely too technical to be favored by Courts of justice at this day. - The further point, that the Court erred in overruling the motion to strike out all evidence showing that the bill of sale was intended as a mortgage, and not an absolute sale of the chattel property, needs no special comment, as the principle is well established that under proper circumstances evidence'is admissible to- explain the character of the transaction, and show the purposes for which the instrument is given. I hold the evidence was properly allowed in this case. This brings us to the instructions of the Court. At the instance of plaintiff, the Court gave certain instructions to the jury, to which defendant excepted generally. Also at request of defendants. gave certain other instructions — refusing one — to which ruling defendants also excepted. On the argument, I understood appel-. lants’ counsel to confine his assignments of error in the matter of instructions to the last one of those given for plaintiff, and the refusal to give the other asked by defendants — both of which, as will presently be seen, refer to the same point. To a proper understanding of the effect of these instructions, I will state that the complaint as amended alleged the value of the personal property taken by Constable Lannan to be six hundred dollars. The defendants, in answer to this allegation, claimed that it was not of greater value than five hundred dollars. No proof was made on the trial as to the value of the property. On this point the Court gave this instruction: “ If the jury find for the plaintiff it will return a verdict of five hundred dollars damages, the value of the property at the time it was taken by defendant Lannan, as admitted in defendants’ answer,” and refused to instruct such jury on defendants’ motion, “ to entitle the plaintiff to recover in this action he
If the instructions to the jury ar-e amenable to further criticism, in my judgment they will be found in no respect less favorable to defendants than the pleadings and evidence warranted.
The judgment and order of the District Court will be affirmed.