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34 Tenn. 303

Esselman v. Brown

Tennessee Supreme Court

Decided December 15, 1854

Tennessee Supreme Court · decided 1854-12-15

PROM GILES. This was a question of costs from tbe circuit court of Giles, arising upon tbe construction of tbe act of 1783, ch. 11, § 4, which provides that “ the party cast shall not he obliged to pay for more than two witnesses to prove any single fact.” James Shannon, the intestate of defendant in error, in his life time recovered judgment against A. 0. Esselman in an action of slander for five hundred dollars damages, and costs.

Cited by 1 later decisions — most recently January 1902

1 state decisions

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1854-12-15

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McBjnnet, J.,

¶1delivered the opinion of the court.

¶2The authorities referred to fully establish, and correctly, as we think, that the rule is not applicable to a case like the present, where the point involved was the general character of the plaintiff.

¶3The general character of a party, as justly remarked, cannot properly “be called a single fact? The attack, as well as the defense, in such case, must ordinarily *305involve various distinct facts and circnmstanees: making it absolutely proper and necessary to summon a number of witnesses. In such cases, the “party cast,” cannot claim, as a matter of right, to be discharged from the payment of all but two witnesses on the opposite side': On the contrary, he may be properly charged with the attendance of all the witnesses, whose testimony, in the opinion of the court, was material and neeessary in the particular case. The matter must, therefore, in a great degree be left to the discretion of the judge before whom the trial tabes place.

¶4The agreement of the parties contained in the record, is not necessary to be noticed, as it can have no bearing on the question.

¶5Judgment affirmed.

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