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132 Ill. 484

Alphin v. Working

Illinois Supreme Court

Decided March 31, 1890

Illinois Supreme Court · decided 1890-03-31

Charles J. Scofield, Judge, presiding. This is an action of assumpsit, brought by appellee, against appellant, in the circuit court of Hancock county, to recover for work performed and materials furnished in the erection of certain buildings, and for freight charges on material shipped from Chicago to the place of building; also, for damages sus- tained by reason of being delayed in the completion of said buildings; also, for a breach of a contract for the erection of a…

Relies on Fitch v. Johnson · Hewitt v. Board of Education · Sun Mutual Insurance v. Saginaw Barrel Co.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1890-03-31

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently November 1942

4 state decisions

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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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Mr. Justice Wilkin

¶1delivered the opinion of the Court:

¶2The real controversy between the parties is one of fact, which the judgment of the Appellate Court has settled adversely to appellant. No complaint is made of the rulings of the trial court in admitting or excluding evidence. ■ •

¶3In the argument filed in the Appellate Court, objection is urged to instructions 15 and 16 given on behalf of appellee. In view of the evidence introduced on the trial, we see no substantial objection to either of these instructions.

¶4In the argument here, the eighth instruction given on behalf of appellee is criticised, although no objection seems to have been taken to it in the Appellate Court. This instruction informs the jury, that if the plaintiff furnished extra material and labor for defendant, at his request, or with his hioivledge and consent, outside of and not included in any special contract, it should be taken into consideration in making their verdict.The objection urged to this instruction is, that it authorizes a recovery for extra work and material, “without proof of facts from which a promise to pay for them may be implied.” Certainly, if the work and labor were extra, and so understood by the parties, and appellant consented that they should be performed and furnished, he would be liable. The instruction fixes upon him no other liability.

¶5The argument of counsel for appellant in this court is mainly directed to the point that the evidence fails to support the judgment below. To maintain this position it is assumed that certain items of plaintiff’s claim are included in the judgment, which, it is insisted, were not established by the evidence. We have been called upon so often to apply section 89 of the' Practice act to this class of appeals, that a reference to a few cases will suffice to show that the question thus raised is not-open for review in this court.

¶6On appeal from the Appellate Court the Supreme Court cannot consider any controverted questions of fact, etc., and theaffirmance of a judgment by the Appellate Court is equivalent to a finding of the facts the same as the jury did. Brownell v. Welch, 91 Ill. 523; Germania Fire Ins. Co. v. McKee, 94 id. 494; Brant v. Lili, 96 id. 608.

¶7Where there is evidence on the trial tending to prove the-issues of fact in favor of the successful party, and the Appellate Court affirms the judgment below, this court must take-the affirmance as a finding of the facts as they were found by the circuit court. Hewitt v. Board of Education, 94 Ill. 528;: Sconce v. Henderson, 102 id. 376; Bennett v. Connelly, 103 id. 50.

¶8All matters relating to the character, force and effect of -the-testimony are settled by the judgment of the Appellate Court,, and are not open for review in this court. Fitch v. Johnson, 104 Ill. 111.

¶9Whether there is a conflict of evidence or not, this court can not reverse a judgment on the ground that issues of fact were improperly decided below, when the judgment has been affirmed by the Appellate Court. Insurance Co. v. Barrel Co. 114 Ill. 103.

¶10.The judgment of the Appellate Court is final, not only in respect to the principal and ultimate facts upon which the right of recovery is claimed, but also in respect to the evidentiary and subordinate facts. (Hamburg-American Packet Co. v. Gattman, 127 Ill. 608, and cases cited.) Nor can the court-go behind the judgment of the Appellate Court, and consider what inferences might arise from particular facts appearing in the bill of exceptions. Montgomery et al. v. Black et al. 124 Ill. 64.

¶11No errors of law appearing in the record, the judgment of the Appellate Court must be affirmed.

¶12Judgment affirmed.

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