Texas v. Chiles

• Decision Date: 01 October 1874
• Citation: 21 Wall. 488,22 L.Ed. 650,88 U.S. 488
• Parties: TEXAS v. CHILES
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

88 U.S. 488

22 L.Ed. 650

21 Wall. 488

TEXAS v. CHILES.

October Term, 1874

THIS was an application for an order that a subpoena issue for John Chiles, the defendant in the case of Texas v. Chiles (a case in equity), in order that his deposition might be taken on behalf of the complainant. The proper disposition of the motion depended upon the solution of the question whether he could be required to testify by the other party. The statutory provision of Congress upon the subject, found in section 858 of the Revised Statutes, was as follows:

'In the courts of the United States no witness shall be excluded in any action on account of color, or in any civil action because he is a party to, or interested in, the issue tried: Provided, That in actions by or against executors, administrators, or guardians, in which judgments may be rendered for or against them, neither party shall be allowed to testify against the other as to any transaction with, or statement by, the testator, intestate, or ward, unless called to testify thereto by the opposite party, or required to testify thereto by the court. In all other respects the laws of the State in which the court is held shall be the rules of decision as to the competency of witnesses in the courts of the United States in trials at common law, and in equity and admiralty.'

Messrs. T. J. Durant and R. T. Merrick, in support of the application; Mr. Albert Pike, contra.

Mr. Justice SWAYNE delivered the opinion of the court.

It was a rule in equity of long standing that the complainant could examine the defendant as a witness, upon interrogatories, and that one defendant might examine another, but they could not examine the complainant without his consent, and the right to examine a defendant was attended with serious restrictions and embarrassment.¹ A bill of discovery was a dilatory and expensive measure.² It was also less effectual than the examination of the defendant as a witness.

In trials at law the system of exclusion was more rigid. The general rule of the common law was that no party to the record could be a witness for or against himself, or for or against any other party to the suit.³ This doctrine was attacked by Bentham in his work on evidence, published in 1828, with great force of reasoning. He maintained that 'in the character of competency no objections ought to be allowed.'⁴ His views produced a deep impression in England, and became the subject of earnest discussion there. Subsequently they bore fruit. In 'the County Courts Act,' passed by Parliament in 1846, it was declared that 'on the hearing or trial of any action, or on any other proceeding under this act, the parties thereto, their wives, and all other persons may be examined either on behalf of the plaintiff or defendant upon oath or solemn affirmation.' This was a great alteration in the law from what it was before. After it had been tested for six years in the county courts and its wisdom approved, the rule was, in 1851, by a measure known as 'Lord Brougham's Act,' with a few exceptions not necessary to be stated, made applicable in all legal proceedings elsewhere. An able writer says, 'Every eminent lawyer in Westminster Hall will readily admit that it has been productive of highly beneficial results.' He adds: 'In courts of law it has not only enabled very many honest persons to establish just claims which, under the old system of exclusion, could never have been brought to trial with any hope of success, but it has deterred at least an equal number of dishonest men from attempting on the one hand to enforce a dishonest demand, and on the other to set up a fictitious defence.' The common-law commissioners, in their report upon the subject, said:

'According to the concurrent testimony of the bench, the profession, and the public, the new law is found to work admirably, and to contribute in an eminent degree to the administration of justice.'⁵

The innovation, it is believed, has been adopted in some form in most, if not in all the States and Territories of our Union.⁶ It is eminently remedial, and the language in which it is couched should be construed accordingly.

A doubt has...