Angier v. Smith

Decided July 27, 1897

Supreme Court of Georgia · decided 1897-07-27

Complaint, on note. Before Judge Berry. City court of Atlanta. January term, 1897. Smith sued Angier as maker, and Brownlee as indorser; upon a promissory note for $125 principal, besides interest and attorney’s fees, dated'March 1, 1895, and due at ninety days. It was indorsed by Brownlee to Smith, who alleged that he became .the. owner of the note as so indorsed, before its maturity, and that he had presented it for payment, which was refused.

Relies on Laramore v. Bank of Americus

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1897-07-27

How this case has been cited

Cited by 10 later decisions — most recently July 1940

9 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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Cobb, J.

¶1Is the plea of usury a good defense to a negotiable promissory note when it is sought to be enforced by one who is a bona fide holder for value and who acquired title before maturity? That such a note would be void in the hands of an innocent purchaser as to the usury, and such part of the debt as is declared by law to be forfeited on account of the usury, is a principle well settled in this State. This doctrine was first announced in the case of Bailey v. Lumpkin, 1 Kelly, 392, and was adhered to in the case of Laramore v. Bank of Americus, 69 Ga. 722. There are no decisions of this court either overruling or criticising these cases.

¶2Judgment reversed.

All the Justices concurring.