3 Daly 160 | New York Court of Common Pleas | 1869
By the Court
It was held in La Farge v. The Exchange Ins. Co. (22 N. Y. 353) that a party might offer* himself as a witness where the opposite party was a corporation, and the construction which in that case was put upon the word party, as used in the code, applies equally to the provision in the 391st section for the examination of a party before trial. This provision was designed as a substitute for the bill for a discovery under oath in aid of the prosecution or defense-of another action which was abolished (Willard’s Equity Jurisprudence, 42), and the examination there provided for is-limited to cases where a discovery would have been previously ordered in equity in aid of the prosecution or defense of the action ; at' least I so held after a careful examination, in the
Brady, J. I agree to reverse upon the ground that a corporation is a party within the meaning of section 391 of the Code.
Order reversed.
This construction of section 391 is in effect given by the new rule 21, adopted at the convention of the judges, and which took effect in January, 1871.