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65 Mass. 257

Carpenter v. Wait

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided September 15, 1853

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1853-09-15

<p>A person accustomed to raise cattle and estimate theirweight, and test his estimate by comparing it with the bills of their weight, is a competent witness to give his opinion of the weight of cattle he has himself raised.</p>

Decided 1853-09-15

By the Court.

¶1The evidence of Jesse Henry should have been admitted. The fact of the weight of the cattle might be *258shown by the opinion of witnesses, who had seen the same, and who, from then practical experience, could testify to their weight. This species of evidence would, of course, be much inferior to that derived from the actual weighing of the cattle, but in the absence of that, it would be an approximation to the. actual weight, proper for the consideration of the jury. We allow testimony as to the value of cattle, although a matter of opinion, and we see no reason why testimony as to their weight, though matter of opinion, might not also be given, leaving its "effect for the jury, under proper instructions. For this cause, the exceptions are sustained.

¶2 New trial grcmted.

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