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22 Tex. 53

Merrill v. Smith

Texas Supreme Court

Decided July 1, 1858

Texas Supreme Court · decided 1858-07-01

<p>The mere possession of a non-negotiable note, by a plaintiff, who sues as assignee, without proof of any assignment, or that he gave a consideration for it, is not sufficient to entitle him to judgment.</p>

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1858-07-01

How this case has been cited

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently September 1939

5 state decisions

20185818601870188018901900191019201930decided

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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Roberts, J.

¶1Smith brought suit as assignee of a note, not negotiable, which he gave in evidence on the trial, without proving any assignment, or that he had given a consideration for the same. The court charged, that his possession of the note was primé fade evidence of his ownership, and directed a verdict to be found in his favor. Without discussing the question of the propriety of a peremptory direction by the court, to *54find a verdict on any evidence, which is onljprrniá facie, it will suffice in this case, to say, that the assumed proposition, that such possession is sufficient proof of ownership, either legal or equitable, is erroneous, as it has been directly held in the cases of Merlin v. Manning, 2 Tex. Rep. 351, and Ross v. Smith, 19 Tex. Rep. 171. Judgment reversed, and cause remanded.

¶2Reversed and remanded.

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