180 Mich. 512 | Mich. | 1914
By this proceeding the complainant seeks to have his marriage with defendant annulled on the ground of her previous unchastity. The defendant answered the bill, and charged complainant with extreme cruelty, and prayed for affirmative relief. After hearing the testimony offered by the parties, the chancellor refused to grant relief to either, and accordingly dismissed both bill and cross-bill. From this decree complainant has appealed.
These parties were married in January, 1912, after an acquaintance of six months and a courtship of four months. After marriage they lived with complainant’s parents in the city of Detroit for a time, and later they lived at a boarding house until they separated in August, 1912. At the time of marriage
Defendant’s showing fell short of making a case of extreme cruelty against complainant. She testified to a few instances of personal violence and to one occasion when he threatened to kill her. Her testimony in this regard lacks corroboration, except in a single instance, and is denied by complainant. Defendant’s charges that complainant made love to their landlady are denied by them. Both complainant and defendant agree that they lived happily together until the last month or six weeks before they separated, and a reading of the record leads to the conclusion that whatever there was in his treatment of her which merited criticism occurred in the last six weeks they were together, and was due to quarrels growing out of her deception as to her past life.
It is also contended by defendant that the allegations of the bill are insufficient to admit of proof that defendant was pregnant at the time of the marriage. The amendment to the bill, allowed upon the application of complainant at the hearing, fully meets this objection.
The decree should be reversed, and one be entered annulling the marriage; neither party to recover costs.
The complainant seeks a decree annulling his marriage with defendant, which took place January 11, 1912. They ceased cohabitation in August, 1912, and the bill was filed September .17, 1912. It is established, I think, that prior to her marriage the defendant had illicit sexual relations with some man or men in October, 1910, and that as a result there was a miscarriage in February, 1911. The serious question is whether complainant had not such relations with her before their marriage. In her answer she tenders such an issue, charging upon oath that while they were engaged to be married complainant had sexual intercourse with her, which resulted in a miscarriage after they were married. This issue she maintains with her testimony, stating that, discovering her condition, she wrote to him and" took the matter up with his father and mother, who insisted they be married. After marriage they lived with complainant’s father and mother for some time, and about a month after the marriage she suffered a miscarriage. A doctor attended her. When asked if defendant had a miscarriage after their marriage complainant answered, “I don’t recollect.” The father and mother of complainant were not called as witnesses. Assuming that the testimony of each of the parties is apparently entitled to equal credence, I am of opinion that the testimony of defendant must be held to preponderate, for the reason that no attempt was made to disprove her statements by calling either of the parents of complainant, or by excusing the calling of them, and by the further fact that complainant does not deny that defendant suffered a miscarriage after marriage as she says she did. The testimony of defendant is specific, and affords the opportunity for its complete refutation by other witnesses, namely, the father and mother of complainant and the physician who attended her. It is met by complainant’s denial of the antenuptial intimacy.
For these reasons I feel compelled to disagree with my Brother Bird, and to hold that the decree of the court below should be affirmed, with costs to defendant.