1 Dall. 439
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided June 15, 1789
Supreme Court of the United States · decided 1789-06-15
THIS was a Scire Facias against the Garnishee in a Foreign Attachment, upon the trial of which the confidential agent, or factor, of the original Defendants, who was casually attending in Court, was offered as a witness to prove effects in the hands of the Garnishee. objected to the admission of the witness; and contended, that he ought not to be allowed, or, at least compelled, to give evidence of matters confidentially communicated to him as an agent; and that the Court…
Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know
Decided 1789-06-15
Cited by 8 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently March 1864
7 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
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¶1But by
¶2It would be of very dangerous consequence, if it was established, that a commercial agent was not amenable as a witness in a Court of Justice, in a cause against his constituent. It is draining the matter of privilege too far: And, if the law makes him a witness, we are too fond of getting at the truth, to permit him to excuse himself from declaring it, because he conceives, that, in point of delicacy, it would be a breach of confidence.
¶3By the Court :—Let the witness be affirmed.