TaiLexi AI U.S. Case Law

Hallwood Cash Register Co. v. Rollins

Hallwood Cash Register Co. v. Rollins.

Hallwood Cash Register Co. v. Rollins, 62 A. 380 (N.H. 1905)
Download
Format
Include

Star paging (*137) is kept for pin cites.

Court
Supreme Court of New Hampshire · State Highest Courts
Decided
November 7, 1905
Judges
Walker, Ail
Citations
62 A. 38073 N.H. 3901905 N.H. LEXIS 63
Cited by 1
Headnotes
If evidence in rebuttal contradicts the defendant’s claim without alleging-new substantive facts, testimony in mere denial thereof is not admissible in surrebuttal as a matter of legal right. Where a machine has been operated by witnesses in the presence of the jury,, its operation by counsel in the course of argument, accompanied by comments warranted by the evidence, is not objectionable.
Summary
Assumpsit, for the price of a cash register. Trial by jury and verdict for the plaintiffs. Transferred from the February term, 1905, of the superior court by Peaslee, J. ' The plaintiffs introduced evidence of a written contract of sale, and rested. The defendant introduced evidence tending to show that he had certain talks with the plaintiffs’ agent in regard to the machine before he opened his place of business, as bearing upon the question of fraud and rescission. In rebuttal, the agent testified that the talks were after the saloon was opened, that there was money in the' register, and that a customer bought a cigar. The defendant then offered evidence that there was no money in the register at the time or times referred to and that no one bought a cigar there, as the agent testified. The evidence was excluded, subject to exception. After the defendant rested, the plaintiffs introduced evidence tending to prove that the conversation with their agent occurred in the afternoon. The defendant then offered to show the time of day it occurred, by a witness who had already testified on cross-examination that it was early in the morning. The evidence was excluded, and the defendant excepted. During the trial the machine was operated by the plaintiffs’ agent and by the defendant. In his argument to the jury, the plaintiffs’ counsel operated the machine and commented upon the manner in which the defendant tried to operate it. To this the defendant excepted.

Syllabus and headnotes are prepared by the reporter or publisher, not the court, and are not part of the opinion.

Opinion of the Court — Walker

Walker, J.

It appears that at the trial it was material to determine whether the defendant had begun doing business in his saloon when the plaintiff’s agent called on him, and whether he *391 was then using the cash register. Evidence of the existence of these facts had some tendency to show that the defendant was satisfied with his purchase .of the register and had not been defrauded by the plaintiff, as he claimed, and it was received in answer to the defendant’s evidence upon the issue of fraud. Jt did not constitute a new substantive position on the part of the plaintiff, but merely tended to deny the defendant’s claim of fraud. The proffered evidence of the defendant in denial of the plaintiff’s evidence was not, therefore, strictly in rebuttal or surrebuttal, and the defendant had no absolute right to its reception at that stage of the trial. Rule of Court, No. 50,-56 N. H. 589; Rule of Court, No. 45,-71 N. H. 683;

Gerrish v. Whitfield, 72 N. H. 222. The exclusion of the evidence under the circumstances presents no error of law.

King v. Bates, 57 N. H. 446, 448. For similar reasons the defendant was not entitled as a matter of legal right to introduce further evidence to show the time of day the plaintiff’s agent called on him.

The remarks of the plaintiff’s counsel in his argument to the jury and his operation of the machine, authorizing the conclusion that the plaintiff' did not defraud the defendant, were, so far as appears from the case, based upon the evidence, and were legitimate.

Exceptions overruled.

Ail concurred.

How later courts describe this case

No later court has written an explanatory parenthetical about this case yet.

Cited by 1 case

View all citing references →
1974: 119742026peak 1974 · 1

Relies on it most ⓘ

  1. Donato v. Boutin314 A.2d 677 (N.H. 1974)

Most recent

  1. Donato v. Boutin314 A.2d 677 (N.H. 1974)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 2

DepthCaseCited by
Gerrish v. Whitfield, 55 A. 551 (N.H. 1903) 8
King v. Bates, 57 N.H. 446 (1876) 4

Keyboard shortcuts

/Focus the search box
j kNext / previous result
EnterOpen the selected result
xAdd / remove the selected result from the download list
n pNext / previous search term in a case
cCopy the citation of the current case
+ −Larger / smaller reading text
?Show this list