115 F. 301 | 1st Cir. | 1902
Judgment was entered in this case on January 16, 1902, in accordance. with our opinion passed down that day. 113 Fed. 454. On February 13, 1902, the appellants, by leave of court, filed a petition which we must regard as a petition for leave to reopen the case in the circuit court on the ground of newly discovered proofs, conforming the proceedings to the practice fully stated by us in Re Gamewell Fire Alarm Tel. Co., 20 C. C. A. 111, 73 Fed. 908. It will appear that, in accordance with the practice thus stated, we can finally dispose of the petition.
The original case was fully explained in our former opinion; but, in order that the merits of the present petition may be correctly understood, it is advisable for us to repeat some details. The appeal arose out of a claim for maritime liens on certain steamers to which coal had been furnished, which coal, in the opinion of the majority of the court, was so furnished in pursuance of a formal contract made with the corporation which was their owner. The contract was signed in behalf of that corporation by F. W. Baldwin, styling himself “Manager.” The record also states that he was the treasurer, but it contains nothing to show his powers, beyond the fact that the parties conceded that he was authorized to sign the contract. How far, beyond the execution thereof, he could bind the corporation, if at all, we have not been advised.
The pith of our opinion of January 16th was to the effect — First, that not only was there no evidence that there was any agreed lien, but that the circumstances disproved its existence; and, second, that there was no evidence of any maritime necessity for credit to the vessels. Either of these findings was sufficient to maintain the con
The affidavits attached to the petition are to the effect that, before the case was heard in the court below, a solicitor for the petitioners applied to Mr. Baldwin for “the facts connected” with the claim, and that Mr. Baldwin refused to give him any information on the subject. It does not appear what class of facts the solicitor was endeavoring to obtain from Mr. Baldwin; but, certainly, if it related to the latter’s intent and belief at the time the contract was signed, it was an easy matter for the solicitor to have compelled him to testify, and thus to have ascertained what they were. Therefore the record lacks proper specific facts leading up to a proposition that prior to the trial in the court below the petitioners made any effort to ascertain the mental condition of Mr. Baldwin in connection with the contract, as now said to have been stated in the conversation at the New York hotel. If this mental condition was of substantial importance, it is apparent that it would have been almost the first thing that the appellants’ solicitor should have sought for; and, for this reason, there seems to be a lack of diligence, such as is fatal to applications of the kind now before us.
Passing by the question whether Mr. Baldwin had any power to bind the corporation by an undisclosed mental condition, or by anything beyond the execution of the contract referred to; also passing by the fact that the mere testimony of any person as to his undisclosed mental condition at a prior time would be of too feeble character to sustain the burden which, according to our opinion of January 16th, rests on the appellants (Insurance Co. v. Hillmon, 145 U. S. 285, 295, 12 Sup. Ct. 909, 36 L. Ed. 706); and also passing by the proposition that the new proof offered is ineffectual with reference to the fact that the case does not disclose a maritime necessity for credit to the steamers, which alone is fatal to the appeal,— we are of the opinion that the new evidence offered is inconclusive on the issue to which it is said to appertain.
It is true that on a limited class of issues, especially with reference to certain criminal proceedings, and also cases where actual knowledge is important, the mental condition of only one individual may be essential, and may be proved by his uncorroborated testimony. Wallace v. U. S., 162 U. S. 466, 477, 16 Sup. Ct. 859, 40 L. Ed. 1039; Steph. Dig. Ev. (2d Am. Ed.) 176, notes. But it will readily appear that the case at bar is not among the classes referred to. In our opinion of January 16th, we quoted from The Iris, 40
The petition filed by the appellants on February 13, 1902, is denied, and the mandate will issue forthwith.
WEBB, District Judge, took no part in this decision.