269 F. 1013 | D.C. Cir. | 1921
This is a suit for divorce and the custody of an infant child, in which appellant, Richard C. Topham, charges his wife, Anna R. Topham, with adultery, naming defendant Whalen as co-respondent. When appellant, plaintiff below, submitted his evidence, the court, on motion of defendants, entered a decree dismissing the bill. From that decree this appeal was prosecuted.
It appears that plaintiff, at the time the difficulty arose, was employed in a clerical capacity, at the office of the Evening Star. On the evening of March 26, 1918, plaintiff told his wife that he would be ■downtown late. The wife replied that she intended to go to a dance which the Eastern Star was conducting for the entertainment of the soldiers. She said she had arranged with the people on the floor above to take care of the baby. The apartment occupied by the Tophams was the first floor above the basement. The owner occupied the basement, and the second floor was occupied by a tenant family. The entrance to the apartment v is from the street by a flight of steps leading into a public hallway. Folding doors opened from the hallway into the front room. The hall extended back, opening into the bedroom, which was separated from the front room by curtains or portieres, and back of the bedroom w.as a kitchen and bathroom.
While other persons in the house testified that she had been attending dances with Whalen, they did not testify to any circumstances from which an inference of adultery could be drawn, and another witness who had seen them at dances admitted on cross-examination that she had never seen them come or go together.
“In order to sustain a charge which not only brings lasting shame and disgrace to the wife, but also to her innocent children, the proof must be clear and satisfactory, Strong suspicion, or circumstances of suspicion, are not sufficient.”
The rule then enunciated has been the guide of the trial court and alluded to as the settled policy of this court. Krous v. Krous, 41 App.
The decree is affirmed, with costs.
Affirmed.
VAN ORSDEE, Associate Justice, dissents.