8 Md. 337 | Md. | 1855
delivered the opinion of this court.
We are of opinion that the point made by the first exception, as to the admissiblencss of the collection book offered by the
The second exception embraces four prayers offered by the plaintiffs, all of which were rejected. The reason assigned here for the refusal of the first of these prayers is, that there was no evidence legally sufficient to warrant the jury in finding, that Rogers lost the plaintiffs’ money with the defendant. If this proposition be maintained, the defendant’s first prayer in the third exception was properly granted.
In many cases it is very difficult to define the line which separates the province of the jury, in deciding facts, from the power of the court to withdraw the case from their consideration altogether, on the assumption, that the evidence, if believed by the jury, is not legally sufficient to prove the issue sought to be established. If the right to recover depends on several distinct propositions of fact and the party fails in either, it is a case of total failure, in the language of the law; and this may occur, not only where there is no evidence whatever as to one or more of the propositions, but where it is so slight and inconclusive that no rational, well constructed mind, can infer from it the fact which it is offered to establish, (Cole vs. Hebb, 7 G. & J., 20,) and the jury would be left to draw deductions from wild speculation and conjccture. Ibid., 95, Farmers Bank vs. Duvall. Considering that juries are designed for the trial of issues of fact, it would perhaps have been safer if courts had
That Rogers collected money for the plaintiffs during the time that he was in the habit of visiting the defendant’s rooms there can be no doubt, but that this money was lost there is not apparant. If it had been proved that during this period of time Rogers had no other money from any source, the inference would be reasonable, that this money only could have been gambled by him. But the evidence does not go to that extent. It shows that ((he possessed no means whatever and that he had not one cent,” without defining the time to which this statement of his condition was intended to apply. The inference is not reasonable that the witness was speaking of the whole lifetime of this young man. He was employed in the commercial house of these plaintiffs, discharging, among others, the responsible duty of collecting large sums of money. We cannot presume that he was doing this for nothing, or that he had no credit by which he could obtain money. The case goes upon the ground that the clerk embezzled from his employers; and a verdict for the plaintiffs could have been rendered on no other hypothesis. This it was sought to establish by inferring, that contrary to his duty, the sums collected had not been accounted for, and superadded to this, by another inference, that because he had, during these periods, played at faro with the defendant, therefore he lost this money and none other. The identity of the money lost with the funds
Cases of this kind sometimes depend on the authority of decisions on similar facts. And in this view, we think the ruling of the court is sustained by the case of Jones vs. Mechanics Bank, 8 Gill, 123, where the circumstances were very strong to show that Perry had improperly obtained the plaintiff’s money and deposited that very money in the bank. But, the
The case of Mechanics Bank vs. Cook, referred to in the argument of the appellants’ counsel, if in conflict with Jones vs. The Mechanics Bank, 8 Gill, 123, must yield to its authority, as the judgment of the court of last resort.
As this view of the case shows the plaintiffs had no standing in court, the other prayers, based upon the matters offered in defence, need not be considered and passed upon by us.
Judgment affirmed.