148 Mo. App. 605 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1910
Action on three promissory ■notes alleged to have been made by the defendants, now held and owned by plaintiff, the notes dated at St. Louis. The first answer of the defendants set up lack of knowledge as to whether the plaintiff is incorporated under the laws of the state of Illinois, as claimed, and for lack of knowledge defendants say that they deny the incorporation. As a further answer it is averred that the notes sued on were part of the purchase price of the business surrendered to plaintiff by one of the defendants and which business plaintiff has ever since retained but has failed to surrender the notes, this part of the answer concluding, “now defendants deny obligation on same.” By the second paragraph of this answer, it is alleged that the indebtedness evidenced by the notes was a matter of account between plaintiff and one Robert Aiken, one of the defendants, and that on a date named plaintiff claimed, by a specific statement that he [(Aiken) at that time was indebted to defendants in the
“We offer to prove that the actual consideration of these notes is the sale mentioned above to' the defendants while plaintiff maintained an office in this State, and that the Missouri law above mentioned had not been complied with.”
This was objected to by counsel for plaintiff on the ground that no issue is made by the answer before the court to which this testimony would be relevant and it was objected to as irrelevant, incompetent and immaterial. The court then said: “Do I understand from the defendants that they have present in court other Avitnesses and other competent evidence to prove these facts?” Whereupon counsel for the defendant said: “We can get them here in a few minutes. We submit an offer of proof. The witnesses are not actually in the court room, but we can bring them here in a few minutes.” The court thereupon sustained the objection, defendants duly excepting, and this being all the evidence in the case found and rendered judgment for the plaintiff in the amount sued for, less credits. Defendants in due time filed a motion in arrest and for a new trial, which being overruled, they havé brought the case here on appeal, having filed a bill of exceptions.