146 Iowa 255 | Iowa | 1910
John A. Murphy was never married. He died February 2, 1908, seised of a quarter section of land. The defendants, Sion and Polly Ann Murphy are his parents, and but for the claim of plaintiff entitled to in
Was the testimony of these witnesses admissible? Section 4620 of the Code declared that: “Evidence respecting handwriting may be given by experts, by comparison or by comparison by the jury with writings of the same person which are proved to be genuine.” The wording of this section is slightly different from the corresponding section of the Code of 1873. Section 3655 thereof: “Evidence respecting handwriting may be given by comparison made by experts, or by the jury, with writings of the same person which are proved to be genuine.” The meaning, however, is the same, the change being made that the statute might accurately express what was intended, and there is no warrant for the contention that the transposition or the in
But the books are agreed that a witness not shown to be familiar with the handwriting, and not qualified to speak as an expert, may not testify from comparison made
Our conclusion is that recognition in writing was not proven. — Affirmed.