69 Mo. 125 | Mo. | 1878
This was an action to recover the price of a piano sold by the plaintiffs to the defendant, in payment for which the defendant transferred to the plaintiffs, by delivery, the promissory notes of one J. E. Morris, amounting in the aggregate to $549.65, which notes the plaintiffs alleged the defendant falsely and fraudulently represented would be paid at maturity, well knowing at the time that the said Morris, who resided in Atchison county, Kansas, was wholly insolvent, and that said notes were worthless. It was further alleged that plaintiffs accepted said notes in payment, relying upon the representations aforesaid.
All the notes were reduced to judgment, and a return of nulla bona was made under each judgment. During the progress of the trial, the plaintiffs, with a view of showing that the defendant had knowledge of the insolvency of Morris, “ offered to prove by a witness who resided in Kansas City that Morris was notoriously insolvent by the statements made to him by merchants, bankers and others in the city of Atchison, in which city the defendant resided.” This testimony was excluded, and the finding of the court was for the defendant.
No instructions were given or prayed, and the admissibility of the testimony offered is the only matter tobe
Reversed.