Stephens v. Stephens
Decision Date | 19 November 1936 |
Docket Number | 2 Div. 84 |
Citation | 233 Ala. 178,170 So. 767 |
Parties | STEPHENS v. STEPHENS. |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Sumter County; Benj. F. Elmore, Judge.
Bill for divorce and alimony by Delma Annie Stephens against Littleton Stephens. From a decree for complainant, respondent appeals.
Affirmed.
W.W Patton, of Livingston, for appellant.
Geo. O Miller and Ira D. Pruitt, both of Livingston, for appellee.
This suit was for a divorce, alimony pendente lite, permanent alimony, and attorneys' fees, which were allowed by the court pursuant to the report of the register.
The trial was on the evidence taken ore tenus before the judge rendering the decree, and the usual presumption obtains. Hodge et al. v. Joy et al., 207 Ala. 198, 92 So 171, and authorities cited.
The averments that respondent committed acts of violence on appellee's person, attended with danger to her life or health, or from his conduct there was reasonable apprehension of such violence, state a cause of action within the statutes. General Acts 1933, Ex.Sess. p. 142; Code, § 7409; Harris v. Harris, 230 Ala. 508, 162 So. 102; Sharp v. Sharp, 230 Ala. 539, 161 So. 709.
The defenses were that respondent used no unusual or unnecessary force, and the alleged adultery of the wife, from which conduct he was returning her to his home. Code, § 7413. The rule that has long prevailed in this jurisdiction as to the proof of adultery was aptly stated by Judge Stone in Mosser v. Mosser, 29 Ala. 313, 317, 318, as follows:
This rule was approved and followed in Jeter v. Jeter, 36 Ala. 391; Coleman v. Coleman, 198 Ala. 225, 73 So 473, and is, in fact, the rule of the English decisions. Loveden v. Loveden, 2 Hagg. 1, 4 Eng.Ec.Rep. 461. See, also, Richardson v. Richardson, 4 Port. 467, 30 Am.Dec. 538; State v. Crowley, 13 Ala. 172. In Wakefield v. Wakefield, 217 Ala. 517, 116 So. 685, the rule of such matter is that the facts and circumstances must be such as would lead the guarded discretion of a reasonable and just man to the...
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Russell v. Russell
...was admissible. We come now to the question of the sufficiency of the evidence to support the divorce decree. In Stephens v. Stephens, 233 Ala. 178, 170 So. 767, it was said that adultery, being an act of darkness and of great secrecy, can hardly be proved by direct means; that presumptive ......
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Roberts v. Roberts
...must be noted between the sufficiency of the bill to state a cause of action when there is no demurrer, as in Stephens v. Stephens, 233 Ala. 178, 170 So. 767, Sharp v. Sharp, 230 Ala. 539, 161 So. 709, and when there is a demurrer as in Ratcliff v. Ratcliff, supra. There is also a demurrer ......
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Watkins v. Watkins, 5 Div. 2
...circumstances must be such as would lead the guarded discretion of a reasonable and just man to the conclusion of guilt. Stephens v. Stephens, 233 Ala. 178, 170 So. 767; Russell v. Russell, 270 Ala. 662, 120 So.2d 733; Rudicell v. Rudicell, 262 Ala. 41, 77 So.2d Appellant, still under assig......
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Chamblee v. Chamblee
...for divorce in favor of the respondent. Ribet v. Ribet, 39 Ala. 348; Stabile v. Stabile, 203 Ala. 635, 84 So. 801; Stephens v. Stephens, 233 Ala. 178, 170 So. 767; Lyall v. Lyall, 250 Ala. 635, 35 So.2d 550; Butler v. Butler, Ala.Sup., 48 So.2d But we cannot agree with appellant in his insi......