66 Wash. 322 | Wash. | 1911
This is an action to recover compensation for work performed by the plaintiff in the construction of the roadbed of the Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound Railway. The defendants had contracted to construct a portion of the roadbed, and the plaintiff claims that he performed the work for which he claims compensation at the request of the defendants, upon the portion of the road covered by their contract. A trial before the court and a jury resulted in verdict and judgment in favor of the plaintiff, from which the defendants have appealed.
It is contended that the trial court erred in denying appellants’ motion for a change of venue upon the ground that the action had been commenced in the wrong county. The place of residence of the defendants became an issue of fact which the trial court decided against their contention. Learned counsel for appellants seem to proceed upon the theory that, when an application for change of venue under Rem. & Bal. Code, §§ 207-209, is made on the ground that the defendant is a resident of some other county than the one where the action is brought, the plaintiff cannot challenge the truth of the defendant’s claimed place of residence. We cannot believe this to be the law. There is nothing in any of these sections making the affidavits or other evidence offered by the defendant as to his place of residence conclusive on that question. That being so, of course such showing may be controverted by the plaintiff.
Counsel for appellants call our attention to the following: State ex rel. Cummings v. Superior Court, 5 Wash. 518, 32 Pac. 457, 771; State ex rel. Allen v. Superior Court, 9 Wash. 668, 38 Pac. 206; Smith v. Allen, 18 Wash. 1, 50 Pac. 783, 63 Am. St. 864, 39 L. R. A. 82. In none of these cases was there any dispute as to the residence of the defendant being in a county other than the one where the action was brought. This question is quite unlike the right
Dunbar, C. J., Mount, Gose, and Fullerton, JJ., concur.