67 N.J.L. 346 | N.J. | 1902
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The only three assignments of error demanding consideration challenge the correctness of the ruling of the trial court, both in its admission of the evidence for the plaintiff below of Catharine Rairdon, the widow of the intestate, John Rairdon, represented in this action, as to- transactions which occurred between her deceased husband and the defendant, as well as in its subsequent rejection of the testimony of James Sampson, the defendant, as to such transactions. The administrator was not offered, and did not testify,
“3. No person shall be disqualified as a witness in any suit or proceeding at law or in equity by reason of his interest in the event of the same as a party or otherwise, but such interest may be shown for the purpose of affecting his credit; provided, no party shall be sworn in any case where the opposite party is prohibited, by any legal disability, from being sworn as a witness.
“4. In all civil actions any party thereto may be sworn and examined as a witness, notwithstanding any party thereto may sue or be sued in a representative capacity; provided, this section shall not extend to permit testimony to be given by any party to the action as to any transaction with or statement by any testator or intestate represented in said action, unless the representative offers himself as a witness on his own behalf, and testifies to any transaction with or statement by his testator or intestate, in which event the other party may be a witness on his own behalf as to all transactions with or statements by such testator or intestate, which are pertinent to the issue.”
Under such clear statutory expression, Catharine Rairdon, who was not a party to the record, although interested in the event of the suit, was a qualified and competent witness in all respects and for all pirrposes, unless, as is insisted by counsel in his brief for the plaintiff in error, “she ought to be considered as a party to the case, within the purview of the third section of the act” (above quoted). But to so regard her is to ignore the plain definition of the words of the statute, and attempt, by construction, to amend the law in order to do away with its. fancied hardships. This court has always construed the act, out of which the present statute has grown, rigorously by its precise letter, and. has refused .to extend its terms so as to reach a presumed equity or avoid an apparent injustice. In the case of Palmateer v. Tilton, 12
The judgment below should be affirmed.
For reversal — None.