Bryer v. American Sur. Co. of New York

Citation189 N.E. 109,285 Mass. 336
PartiesBRYER v. AMERICAN SURETY CO. OF NEW YORK.
Decision Date14 February 1934
CourtUnited States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Exceptions from Superior Court, Suffolk County; Morton, Judge.

Action on a bond by Joseph G. Bryer against the American Surety Company of New York. On defendant's exceptions.

Exceptions overruled.

J. G. Bryer, of Boston, for plaintiff.

W. H. Shea, of Boston, for defendant.

RUGG, Chief Justice.

This is an action at law in the superior court by the obligee against the surety on a bond. There are recitals in the bond of the entry of a decree in the municipal court of the city of Boston under St. 1927, c. 334, now G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 224, ordering Charles W. McDermott, the principal on the bond, to pay to the obligee specified sums of money in instalments, of the filing by McDermott in the United States District Court of a suit assailing the validity of said decree and for further relief, and of a stipulation that a bond be given to the defendant in that suit in the penal sum of $1,000 to secure payment of accruing instalments under the decree. The condition of the bond is that if McDermott and the surety company, the present defendant, shall pay the amount, if any, due from McDermott by virtue of the said decree, the bond shall be void; otherwise, in full force and effect. A certified copy of the final decree of the United States District Court entered in February, 1933, was in evidence to the effect that the bill was dismissed. Copies of the docket entries and of the decree of the municipal court of the city of Boston in the original proceeding, and of demand made on the defendant surety in June, 1933, were in evidence. The defendant admitted that no payment had been made, either on the bond or by McDermott, of the money hereby called for.

The defendant offered by examination of two clerks in that court to show that the record of the municipal court, as shown by the copies, was the result of elimination, obliteration, and eradication of the original entries and was thus tampered with and altered without any judicial sanction whatsoever and was suggested by opposing counsel and was not true. The defendant's exception to the exclusion of this offer presents the only question for decision.

The evidence was excluded rightly. The record of a court imports verity. No parol evidence is admissible to amplify, modify, or contradict it in any collateral proceeding. Wells v. Stevens, 2 Gray, 115;Cook v. Berth, 108 Mass. 73, 76;Balch v. Shaw, 7 Cush. 282, 284;May v. Hammond, 146 Mass. 439, 441, 15 N. E. 925;Cote v. New England Navigation Co., 213 Mass. 177, 179, 99 N. E. 972;Haskell v....

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25 cases
  • Stafford v. Field, 7585
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Idaho
    • May 9, 1950
    ...Campbell v. Nunn, 78 Utah 316, 2 P.2d 899; Hanley v. Most, 9 Wash.2d 474, 115 P.2d 951 at 952, 118 P.2d 946; Bryer v. American Surety Co. of New York, 285 Mass. 336, 189 N.E. 109; State ex rel. Gregory v. Henderson, 230 Mo.App. 1, 88 S.W.2d 893; Colonial Trust Co. v. Hill County, Tex. Com.A......
  • Long v. George
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
    • March 5, 1937
    ...Am.St.Rep. 399;Karrick v. Wetmore, 210 Mass. 578, 579, 97 N.E. 92;Webb v. Cohen, 280 Mass. 292, 182 N.E. 337;Bryer v. American Surety Co. of New York, 285 Mass. 336, 189 N.E. 109; McDermott v. Justices of Municipal Court, of the City of Boston, 287 Mass. 563, 568, 192 N.E. 18;Prenguber v. A......
  • Slade v. United States, 1387.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit)
    • September 17, 1936
    ...State v. Branaman, 204 Ind. 238, 183 N.E. 653, 655; A. Doykos & T. Pappas, Inc. v. Leventhal (Mass.) 195 N.E. 348; Bryer v. American Surety Co., 285 Mass. 336, 189 N.E. 109; MacDonald v. Barr, 51 R.L. 337, 154 A. 564; John E. Quarles Co. v. Lee (Tex.Com.App.) 58 S.W.(2d) 77. 2 Petition of C......
  • Robbins v. Robbins
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
    • November 29, 1961
    ...in her testimony tending to amplify, modify or contradict the grounds set forth in that record was of no effect. Bryer v. American Sur. Co., 285 Mass. 336, 189 N.E. 109. ...
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