25 Ga. 203 | Ga. | 1858
By the Court.
delivering the opinion.
This is the third time this case has been before this Court; and we regret to see and say, that no trial has been had upon the merits; upon the only issue really involved in the case.
It was first up upon the statute of limitations (16 Ga. Rep. 114) and we then held, that upon the proof submitted, the statute did not bar the plaintiff's right to recover. It was again up in 1856 upon sundry points, (20 Ga. Rep. 600,) when this Court, at the conclusion of its opinion, took occasion to say: “ Here, then, is the hinge upon which this case turns, to-wit: the bonajides or malafides of the real or pretended Sheriff's sale; and the further inquiry, of injury orno injury to Napoleon Goodwyn by the acts and acquiescence of his father in the sale and will.”
This point has not yet been reached in this case. And until it is, and ¡until it is fully investigated, and all the facts brought out, the result never can be satisfactory to the parties or the country.
This is an action of trover, brought by Napoleon Goodwyn, the son, against Nancy Goodwyn, his mother, for sundry slaves. The plaintiff deduces his title from the will of Mrs. Elizabeth Goodwyn, his grand-mother, and the recovery is resisted upon the ground, that the title to this property was never in the testatrix, and this is the issue between the parties.
The ground upon which we put the judgment of reversal in this case is the exclusion of the -testimony of Thomas D. Goodwyn. He was held to be an incompetent witness, 1st, on the score of interest; and 2d, .because it was proposed to prove by him the record from Dinwiddie county, Virginia, as at common law.
We think the Court erred in both views of this evidence. 1st. As to the interest of the witness. Thomas D. Goodwyn, it is true, is the son of Burwell Goodwyn, deceased
As to all the quibbling in the Court below over scraps of testimony referring to a sale, &c., we have neither the time nor the taste to examine it. Let the case be tried, and tried finally upon its merits.
Judgment reversed.