Wing v. Stewart

68 Iowa 13 | Iowa | 1885

Need, J.

1. evidence fntroduotion strument: practice on appeal. On the trial plaintiff offered the contract in evidence. Defendants objected to its introduction on the : ground than its appearance indicated that it had been altered since its execution, and that plaintiff was not entitled to introduce it until this appear-A A anee was explained, and that there was no evidence tending in any manner to explain it. The court also instructed the jury that the burden of proving the alleged alterations was on the defendants. These rulings were excepted to at the time, and are now assigned as error.

It would at this time be a sufficient answer to the objection made to the admission of the contract in evidence to say that its validity depends on the existence of a fact which can be determined only by an inspection of the instrument itself, and the appellants have not brought the instrument into this court, so that we are not able to determine whether the fact upon which, the objection depends exists or not. The circuit court may have determined, upon an inspection of the instrument, that there was nothing in its appearance which called for explanation. The presumption is in favor of the correct-ness of the finding of the trial court, and we will disturb the fipding only upon a showing that it is wrong.

*16The written instrument contained no evidence of the delivery of the goods, and was not introduced for the purpose of proving that fact, and, as that is the only fact winch plaintiff was required to prove in making out bis case, be need not have introduced it. We find it unnecessary to go into the question (wliicli lias been argued by counsel) whether the rule laid by the text writers, and applied in many of the cases, which requires the party offering an instrument of writing in evidence to explain any apparent alteration or interlineations before introducing it, (see 1 Oreenl.Ev., § 564; 1 Phil. Ev., p. 607,) has been abrogated by our statutes or not; for, conceding the existence of the rule, it is not applicable under the facts of tbe case. The judgment of the circuit court will be

Affirmed.