Haile v. Dinnis

• Decision Date: 20 December 1944
• Docket Number: 54.
• Citation: 40 A.2d 363,184 Md. 144
• Parties: HAILE v. DINNIS.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

40 A.2d 363

184 Md. 144

HAILE v. DINNIS.

No. 54.

Court of Appeals of Maryland

December 20, 1944

Appeal from Circuit Court, Baltimore County; J. Howard Murray Judge.

Suit by L. Grace Dinnis against Elmer R. Haile, executor of the last will and testament of Walter P. Reckord, deceased, for services rendered. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals.

Judgment reversed and new trial awarded.

Edward H. Burke and C. Keating Bowie, Jr., both of Baltimore (Walter R. Haile, of Towson, on the brief), for appellant.

Max Sokol, of Baltimore, and Walter M. Jenifer, of Towson (Jenifer & Jenifer and H. Courtney Jenifer, all of Towson and Dickerson, Nice & Sokol, of Baltimore, on the brief), for appellee.

Before MARBURY, C.J., and DELAPLAINE, COLLINS, GRASON, MELVIN BAILEY, CAPPER, and HENDERSON, JJ.

BAILEY, Judge.

L Grace Dinnis, the appellee in this Court, filed suit in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County against Elmer R. Haile, executor of the last will and testament of Walter P. Reckord, late of Baltimore County, deceased, the appellant, for services rendered to the said Reckord, at his instance and request, as a secretary covering general office work, and as general housekeeper, including cooking, washing, ironing, housekeeping and nursing from June 11, 1929, to February 14, 1942. The declaration, in one count, alleged that Reckord continually promised to compensate the plaintiff for said services, and in another that during his lifetime he placed a valuation of Thirty Thousand Dollars thereon, and in both, that he did not pay the plaintiff for them. The case was tried before a jury, resulting in a verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of Twenty-one Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty Dollars. From the judgment entered on this verdict, this appeal is taken.

There is but one exception in the record. This questions the correctness of the ruling of the trial court in refusing to permit the defendant to offer in evidence two account books showing the collection of rents and other business transactions of Reckord from the year 1928 until July 1, 1942. At the time the books were offered it was stated by counsel for the defendant that the purpose of the offer was in order that the books might be shown to the jury so that they might see by their own inspection that every item in the books was in the handwriting of Reckord. The trial court refused to admit the books, giving as its reason for its action that they might contain inadmissible entries which should not be seen by the jury and that it would be difficult for the jury to look at the handwriting and not see the entries.

Mr. Reckord died on May 3, 1943. At the time of his death he was eighty-six years old. He had been the owner of the 'Union News,' a local newspaper published in Towson. The plaintiff had been employed in the office of this newspaper until it was sold in 1927.

From 1927 until his death Mr. Reckord's only business was the management of his several properties, which consisted of an office building, known as the Reckord Building, other business properties, apartment houses and dwellings in Towson, and two farms.

Evidence was offered on behalf of the plaintiff to the effect that the plaintiff, from the summer of 1929 until May, 1941, lived at Sweet Air, about twelve miles from Towson, and that Mr. Reckord had an office and bedroom in the plaintiff's home, which he occupied at times, and that the plaintiff furnished him with meals and did his mending, darning and laundry.

The witness, James Quickly, testified that Mr. Reckord was at the plaintiff's home in Sweet Air three or four times a week and on Sunday. He was an employee of the plaintiff. His daughter, Margery, was employed by the plaintiff in 1938. She testified that Mr. Reckord came to the plaintiff's home on an average of five times a week, arriving between five-thirty and six o'clock in the afternoon and eating supper. Joseph Miller, who worked for Miss Dinnis from 1935 to 1937, testified that he often saw her sitting at a big office desk working and that Mr. Reckord's books were on the desk. Ethel McDade, who was employed by the plaintiff from August, 1929, until the fall of 1930, and again in 1935, often saw Miss Dinnis and Mr. Reckord in the office, where Miss Dinnis was 'writing letters on the typewriter and putting notations in the book.' She testified further that 'she had large books that she would write in, some kind of a ledger'; and that Mr. Reckord was there in the office 'most all the time' that Miss Dinnis was making entries in the book. Laura High nursed the plaintiff's mother in plaintiff's home for three weeks in 1940. She testified that during this period Miss Dinnis did some of his secretarial work, writing letters and doing little things for him.

Mrs. Bessie Bottiger testified that she visited Miss Dinnis at her home in Sweet Air about twice a month; that Mr. Reckord had an office on the first floor and that she saw him there; that in the evenings Miss Dinnis would go in the office and spend an hour or two hours, or sometimes longer, working on the typewriter; that Miss Dinnis was in the florist business and the hooked rug business; and that she did not know what work she was carrying on in the office.

Mrs. May Hughes, a sister of Mrs. Bottiger, was a frequent visitor in Miss Dinnis' home. She testified that the office in the Sweet Air home was equipped with a desk, typewriter and books; that she had seen Miss Dinnis working on the books; that Mr. Reckord told her that Miss Dinnis did his clerical work and collected his rents; and that Mr. Reckord would often be in the office while the plaintiff was doing some of the writing and making the entries in the books.

John A. Hughes, Jr., testified as to two conversations with Mr. Reckord in which Mr. Reckord said that the plaintiff had worked hard for him, 'had done all his clerical work,' and that he owed her Thirty Thousand Dollars.

Mrs. Theresa H. Kline was called as an expert witness to testify as to the reasonable charge for the clerical and secretarial services rendered by the plaintiff to Mr. Reckord, as outlined in the above testimony. When asked to state her opinion and give her reasons, her reply was as follows: 'As I understand from the testimony, she acted as secretary to Mr. Reckord, she looked after his rents and his personal belongings, and was at his call any time of the day or night, and she was excluded from taking other employment, and in view of all that I think she would be entitled to $35.00 a week.'

The evidence produced on behalf of the defendant presented a different picture. It was to the effect that during the period of the plaintiff's claim Mr. Reckord first maintained a bedroom in the basement of the Reckord Building; that he then moved to an apartment at 25 West Susquehanna Avenue, in Towson; that he subsequently moved to an apartment in the Washington Apartments in Towson, which he occupied during the fall and winter, spending the spring and summer at his farm near Sparks; that from 1936 until his illness in February, 1942, he lived at this farm with his son, Edward, and his son's family; that his visits to the Sweet Air home of Miss Dinnis were usually for Sunday dinner; that when he was living in the apartments, he prepared his own breakfast, ate his lunch at his office and had dinner with members of his family; that when he lived on the farm with his son, Edward, he got his breakfast and dinner at the farm and had his lunch at his office; and that after his illness in February, 1942, he lived with his daughter, Mrs. Haile.

Miss Lottie P. Gill, who had been employed as a bookkeeper in Washington for twenty-six years and who had known Mr. Reckord since 1916, testified that she frequently stopped at Mr. Reckord's office when she was in Towson and that while she was there 'he was usually working and making entries in his books and things of that sort, accepting rents.' She then identified the two account books shown her as the books in which she saw him writing. She further testified that she discussed with Mr. Reckord his system of bookkeeping and that he kept no records except the two account books, his check stubs and his bank deposit books, all of which were in his office at Towson.

Miss Alice M. Starr was Mr. Reckord's tenant on the Sunnyfield farm for about eight years before his death. She testified that he billed her for the rent once a month, that the bills were in his own handwriting, and that she made the monthly payments at his office. All the rent receipts were offered in evidence.

Mr. John Mays Little, an attorney, had maintained his office in the Reckord Building from 1929. He testified that he always paid his rent to Mr. Reckord, whose office adjoined his, that Mr. Reckord receipted the bills, writing 'Thank you' on each one. All the receipted bills were offered in evidence.

Another tenant of the Reckord Building, Mr. Daniel Bradley, produced receipted monthly bills for rent for a period of twelve years, all in Mr. Reckord's handwriting, which were offered in evidence. He testified that he always paid his rent to Mr. Reckord at Mr. Reckord's office in Towson.

When the defendant took the stand he identified the two account books, previously identified by Miss Gill, and ten bound volumes of check-stubs as the papers which were found in Mr. Reckord's desk and safe and which came...