Johnston v. Reily, 9267.
Decision Date | 10 February 1947 |
Docket Number | No. 9267.,9267. |
Citation | 160 F.2d 249,82 US App. DC 6 |
Parties | JOHNSTON et al. v. REILY. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
Mr. Frederic N. Towers, of Washington, D. C., with whom Messrs. Norman B. Frost and Frank H. Myers, both of Washington, D. C., were on the brief, for appellants.
Mr. G. A. Chadwick, Jr., of Washington, D. C., also entered an appearance for appellants.
Mr. Louis Ginberg, of Washington D. C., with whom Messrs. Dorsey K. Offutt and Carlton F. Alm, both of Washington D. C., were on the brief, for appellee.
Before GRONER, Chief Justice, and CLARK and PRETTYMAN, Associate Justices.
Appellants were defendants in a civil action for breach of contract. In the course of the trial before a jury, counsel for the plaintiff Reily offered, through the testimony of a witness Milburn, a letter addressed to Milburn and signed by one Sisto. The court admitted the letter over objection and after some discussion. The only point urged by appellants is error in the admission of the letter.
The controversy revolved around the public financing, by the sale of stock, of a steel corporation. The question was whether Reily was entitled to a commission upon the transaction pursuant to an alleged agreement between him and appellants. The principal underwriter in the financing was the New York firm of Tobey & Company. Sisto was chairman of the board of the steel corporation. Reily was an employee of Johnston, Lemon & Company, appellants' trade name. The principal questions of fact were the nature of the contract between Johnston, Lemon & Company and Reily, and whether Reily had any material part in securing, through Tobey & Company, a part in the financing for Johnston, Lemon & Company. The latter took the deposition of Mr. Sisto. He testified that Reily had no part in obtaining participation by Johnston, Lemon & Company in the offering. He was not asked any questions about the letter to Milburn, because, it was later explained, counsel for none of the parties knew of the letter at that time. The first two paragraphs of the disputed letter read:
When the letter was offered, counsel for the appellant objected, and when the court asked, "What is your objection?", he said: Later in the discussion, counsel said, "Well, in the second paragraph of this letter the expression is very equivocal." And again, His associate counsel said,
Appellants now say that the letter was pure hearsay, and that it could not be admitted for the purpose of impeaching Mr. Sisto's testimony upon the deposition, because no foundation had been laid for that use. We have no difficulty in agreeing with both of those contentions. The question is whether counsel stated those grounds of objection to the trial court with sufficient precision and clarity to present the point upon appeal.
It has always been the rule of practice in the federal courts that an objection to the admission of evidence must state the specific ground of the objection. In Noonan v. Caledonia Gold Mining Co., 1887, 121 U.S. 393, 7 S.Ct. 911, 915, 30 L. Ed. 1061, the Supreme Court said: ...
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