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64 Cal. 487

Howard v. Stratton

California Supreme Court

Decided January 29, 1884

California Supreme Court · decided 1884-01-29

The action was originally brought by one Tyson, to enforce an alleged vendor’s lien upon lands conveyed by him to the defendant, and for which the latter gave the notes referred to in the opinion. The defendant offered to prove at the trial that +he conveyance was made in consideration of his agreement to support Tyson during his life, and that he had fully performed the promise. This evidence was excluded.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1884-01-29

How this case has been cited

Cited by 20 later decisions — most recently January 1980

20 state decisions — followed in 11 states

7018841890190019101920193019401950196019701980decided

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.

¶1The court erred in excluding evidence tending to prove that there was an agreement between Tyson and Stratton, by which the former agreed to let the latter have the rancho on which he lived in consideration of his giving Tyson a home and support during the residue of his life, and that the notes sued on in this action were given by Stratton to Tyson to secure the performance by Stratton of said agreement on his part, and that he had performed the same. The admission of such evidence would not violate the rule which forbids the introduction of parol evidence to contradict or vary a written contract. If the notes were given to secure the execution by Stratton of a promise to support and take care of Tyson, and that promise was fulfilled, the notes were discharged, and parol evidence is admissible to prove that a written agreement has been totally discharged. There is nothing in this which tends to contradict or vary a written contract.

¶2It does not appear that an exception was taken to the ruling of the court on the defendant’s motion to strike out the testimony of John Treat, and we cannot in the absence of an exception review said ruling.

¶3Judgment and order revérsed.

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