Hansel v. Collins

Collins, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. Charles S- Hansel and Ella M. Hansel, his wife, appelants here, filed a second amended bill of complaint in the Circuit Court for Allegany County, in Equity, against William C. Collins and Ada B. Collins, his wife, appellees here. They alleged that they brought suit in trespass against the defendants No. 86 Trials October Term 1940, in the Circuit Court for Allegany County, that at the trial, while the plaintiff was presenting the case, a number of exceptions were reserved to the evidence but only four of these exceptions are noted in the transcript of the evidence, and that during the taking of defendant’s evidence, twenty-five or thirty exceptions were reserved by the plaintiff but only three of these “exceptions are noted in the transcript of evidence. The bill of complaint states at length in detail the failure to note the alleged exceptions.

The bill also states that the foreman of the jury which tried the case, Harry W. Matthews, was a nonresident of the State of Maryland and a resident of the State of West Virginia at the time of serving on the jury in that case, and had been a resident of the State of West Virginia for about three years, that he was a registered voter and a property owner there and not qualified to serve on a jury in Maryland. The complainants allege that they had no knowledge of the disqualification of Harry W. Matthews until the third day of April, 1941, which was more than four months after the trial of the case. No fraud is alleged. The court was asked in the bill to enjoin the judgment, set same aside and declare it of no effect, that the plaintiff be declared entitled to a new trial, and for general relief.

The defendants, appellees here, filed a demurrer and answer to the amended bill of complaint. The demurrer was overruled by the court ¹⁰² but no appeal was taken by the appellees from that ruling. After testimony was taken in open court on the bill and answer, the chancellor passed an order dismissing the bill of complaint and requiring the plaintiffs, appellants here, to pay the costs. An appeal is taken to this court from that order.

Testimony of several witnesses was offered by the appellants as to the failure of the court stenographer to note the exceptions taken in the trial below but it is evident that most of these witnesses did not know the difference between an objection and an exception and The testimony is, therefore, of little weight. William S. Jenkins, Esq., an attorney of Allegany County, who was associated in the trial of the case in the law court as one of the attorneys for the appellees, but who has no connection with this case, stated that he took notes of various things connected with the case, that he had carefully examined the testimony written up by the stenographer, and that to the best of his recollection, the record was correct. The court stenographer, Earl E. Manges, who took testimony in the case, had served as court stenographer for Allegany and Garrett Counties for eighteen months, was a graduate of a business school in Cumberland and of a school in Chicago which specialized in the training of court stenographers. He is also a member of the Bar of the United States Court of Appeals, of the District of Columbia, and of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

He testified that he noted all of the exceptions taken and that being a member of the bar, he was particularly careful to note the exceptions as he realized the importance thereof and that the transcript of the record is correct. He also stated that he used a special court reporter’s note book which is lined for the purpose of noting exceptions. Appellants, by the testimony offered, do not sustain the alleged failure of the court stenographer to note the exceptions. Furthermore, the court of law being the trial court was authorized to correct the record if it found any error occurred, and plaintiffs could have had any errors corrected during ¹⁰³ the trial or afterwards when a hearing was held on a motion for a new trial.

No fraud is alleged or proved. Equity cannot amend the common-law record in this case. This Court said in Greff et al. v. Fickey et al., 30 Md. 75 at page 78: “The court of original jurisdiction, in which the proceedings were had, must of necessity decide as to the correctness of its own records; this court has no power upon an appeal either to review its decision, or to undertake to determine in what respect a record transmitted to us is erroneous, or to correct it; to do so