44 Cal. 200 | Cal. | 1872
The defendants are sued as guarantors of a promissory note made by one Dolan, of which the plaintiff claims to be the bona fide owner and holder for value, having become such, as he alleges, before maturity of the note, and without notice of any defense thereto. The guarantee of the defendants was made simply by indorsing their firm name on the back of the note before it was delivered by Dolan. The note was payable to one Sullivan, who indorsed the same without recourse, and in that form it came to the plaintiff’s hands.
The answer sets up as a defense :
1. That the plaintiff is not the owner of the note;
2. That he did not receive it before maturity, or at any other time for value;
3. That one Horan is the holder and owner of the note, and that he placed it in the hands of plaintiff for collection only;
4. That before the execution of said note the firm of Sullivan & Cashman (of which firm the payee of the note was
At the trial, when the plaintiff rested, the defendants proceeded to introduce evidence in support of the special agreement set up in the answer, to which the plaintiff objected, on the ground that the testimony was irrelevant, until after it had been shown either that the plaintiff took the note with notice or acquired it after maturity; but the Court decided that the defendants might introduce their
Several other alleged errors of law are relied upon in the briefs of counsel, as having occurred at the trial; but we cannot notice them, for the reason that they were not specified in the statement on motion for a new trial.
Another ground relied upon for a new trial was, that the evidence did not justify the verdict, which was a general verdict for the defendants. But we cannot disturb the verdict on this ground. One of the issues was, that the plaintiff did not acquire the note for value. On that issue there was sufficient evidence to justify the verdict; and we ought not, therefore, to set it aside, even though the evidence was insufficient to support it as to the other issue, on which point it is unnecessary to express an opinion.
Judgment affirmed.
Mr. Justice Rhodes did not express an opinion.