84 Iowa 221 | Iowa | 1892
I. The. plaintiff claims a divorce on the ground of desertion. The plaintiff and the defend-
This court has often defined legal cruelty which would entitle a party to a divorce. It is said in Beebe v. Beebe, 10 Iowa, 133, if “austerity of temper, petulance of manner, rudeness of language, a want of civil attention, occasional sallies of passion do threaten bodily harm, they amount to legal cruelty.” And in Wheeler v. Wheeler, 53 Iowa, 515, it is said: “Any course of conduct, therefore, which would have the effect to impair health, would be legal cruelty.” Again: “If thó treatment of the plaintiff by the defendant, considered as an entirety, is of a nature to affect her mind, undermine her health, and thereby endanger her life, it is sufficient to entitle her to the relief she demanded.” Doolittle v. Doolittle, 78 Iowa, 694, and cases cited. It does not appear that the wife ever gave any cause for, or in any manner provoked, the treatment she received; indeed, the plaintiff’s only complaint against the defendant was her great love for her children. We cannot doubt that the treatment suffered by the defendant not only became unendurable to her, but it had a direct tendency to impair her health, and did impair it, and endangered her life. The testimony shows that when she left the plaintiff’s house she was broken in health, and was sick for some time at her daughter’s, -where she received medical care and treatment.
III. If it should be conceded that the defendant was not justified in leaving the plaintiff’s house by
IY. The defendant’s answer contains the following allegation: “And, further answering, the defendant
Y. From what has been said it follows that the defendant is entitled to a divorce. The defendant complains of many acts which we have not mentioned, and to which we do. not think she was justified in attaching any importance, and as to many of which the evidence is conflicting. In legal contemplation the plaintiff deserted the defendant, and the evidence fully justifies us in our conclusion that she was cruelly and inhumanly treated.
VI. Complaint is made of the action of the court below in allowing one hundred and fifty dollars counsel
, The judgment of the district court will be affirmed on tbe plaintiff’s appeal, and, on the defendant’s appeal, REVERSED.