Witter v. Witter

Decided September 15, 1813

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1813-09-15

The original action was upon a promissory note, and for money had and received. The defendant, seven days before the return of the original writ, filed in the clerk’s office, by way of set-off to the plaintiff’s demands, his account, the three first articles of charge therein being for the plaintiff’s board, finding him a room, washing and mending, and the remainder of the account being for articles of merchandise sold and delivered by the defendant to the plaintiff.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1813-09-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently June 1936

6 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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Per Curiam.

¶1We think the Circuit Court of Common Pleas were too scrupulous in refusing to admit the evidence offered by the defendant in the case before us, in support of his account filed. Board and lodging, washing, &c., are all included within the meaning of goods delivered and services performed. If there had been a specific charge for the rent of a room, that might well have been excluded. The judgment is reversed, and a new trial is to be had at the bar of this Court, (a)

¶2additional note.

¶3[See Howell vs. Webb, 2 Pike, 360. — F. H.]

¶4[In Richards vs. Blood, (17 Mass. Rep. 66,) the Court went so far as to con sider money received by the plaintiff, to defendant’s use, as money paid by defendant to him. — Ed.]