166 Wis. 188 | Wis. | 1917
Appellants contend that the judgment should be reversed (1) because the findings set out are against the clear preponderance of the evidence, and (2) be•cause the court erred in rejecting testimony offered by the defendants and in admitting evidence offered by plaintiffs.
Under the rule laid down in Armstrong v. Morrow, ante, p. 1, 163 N. W. 179, when the plaintiffs established, as it is admitted they did, the fact of the confidential relationship between the deceased Anna R. Bours and the defendant Bradshaw, her agent and adviser, they established a prima facie case, and it was then incumbent upon the defendant Bradshaw to show affirmatively that no advantage was taken ■of the confidential relationship which existed between himself and the deceased and that in making the deeds of the property in question the deceased acted with full knowledge, upon proper advice, that no deception was practiced, and that the consideration was adequate.
The evidence is not stated in' detail. • To do so would extend this opinion to great length. Such statements are of no value in cases such as this, except as they may convince counsel that the matter has been fully considered. Each ■case must rest upon its peculiar facts. The facts are never .alike in two cases. Long statements of the facts are quite .as likely to lead to confusion as they are to lead to certainty in the application of general principles in subsequent cases. This court, realizing the burden cast upon the profession by unnecessarily long opinions, endeavors to conform to the demand for shorter opinions. All cases are thoroughly and carefully considered, and the brevity of the opinion is not ■evidence to the contrary. We are of the opinion that tho trial court was right in its conclusion that the defendant
A witness was permitted to testify to conversation with the deceased when Bradshaw was not present. While this should not have been permitted, nevertheless its admission does not constitute reversible error where the trial is before the'court without a jury, as in this case, and there is competent evidence to ^support the court’s findings, as there is here.
By the Court. — Judgment affirmed.’