Fidelity & Deposit Co. v. Courtney, 186 U.S. 342 (1902)
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Fidelity and Deposit Company v. Courtney
No. 178
Argued March 3-4, 1902
Decided June 2, 1902
186 U.S. 342
CERTIORARI TO THE CIRCUIT COURT
OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
In an action brought by the receiver of a national bank appointed by the Comptroller of the Currency upon a bond of indemnity given to hold the bank harmless against fraud of a specified officer, it was contended that the court erred in admitting in evidence a notice of the default of the officer, given to the surety company by the receiver within from ten to seventeen days after the discovery of the default, and in instructing the jury that the requirement in the bond that immediate notice should be given of a default was fulfilled by giving notice as soon as reasonably practicable and with promptness, or within a reasonable time. Held that the trial court did not err in refusing to instruct, as a matter of law, that the notice was not given as soon as reasonably practicable, under the circumstances of the case, or without unnecessary delay, and in leaving the jury to determine the question whether the receiver had acted with reasonable promptness in giving the notice.
The Court points out an error in excluding evidence, but further holds that, as the very question which the jury would have been called upon to determine if the evidence had been received was fully submitted to them and was necessarily negatived by their verdict, no foundation exists for holding that prejudicial error resulted from excluding the evidence.
If the court below in any wise erred, it was in giving instructions which were more favorable to the defendant than was justified by the principles of law applicable to the case.
To instruct the jury in broad terms that, if they found that the directors were careless in the management of the bank generally, they should find for the defendant could only have served to mislead.
The action below was brought, on February 5, 1898, by Courtney, as receiver of the German National Bank of Louisville, appointed by the Comptroller of the Currency on January 22, 1897, four days after the closing of the bank. Recovery was sought upon a bond of indemnity for ten thousand dollars and renewals thereof, taking effect respectively on June 1, 1894, June 1, 1895, and June 1, 1896. The condition of the bond was to hold the bank harmless against any loss which it might sustain by reason of any fraud committed by Jacob M. McKnight, originally as vice-president and later as president of the bank. The sum of $18,742.74 was alleged to have been dishonestly and fraudulently embezzled, and misapplied out of the funds of the bank from July 1, 1894, to January 4, 1897, by McKnight, either as vice-president or president, and a statement of the items was embodied in the petition. Due proof of the claim was averred to have been made on July 2, 1897. By answer and amendments thereto, the defendant took issue as to the happening of each of the alleged defaults; it averred that McKnight, prior to January 21, 1896, had indulged in speculations in whisky and tobacco and in disreputable and unlawful habits and pursuits; it further averred that the cashier and teller (one and the same individual), or the vice-president of the bank, who became such when McKnight became the president, or the directors thereof at or about the time of the happening of the defaults, had knowledge of the same, and that the bank condoned the defaults of McKnight for which recovery was sought. In effect, also, it was alleged that there had been a violation of each of the other conditions and stipulations of the bond. The amended answer concluded with the following averment:
When said bond of June 1, 1894, given by defendant to said bank for the fidelity of said McKnight, as set out in the petition, was renewed for another year on June 1, 1895, to cover the period from that date to June 1, 1896, and was again renewed and continued on June 1, 1896, to cover the period from that date to June 1, 1897, said bank, through an officer other than said McKnight, represented and asserted and certified, with the knowledge of the directors of the said bank, that the books and accounts of said McKnight had been examined by said bank and were then found to be correct in every respect, and that all moneys handled by him had been accounted for up to that time, and that he had performed his duties in an acceptable and satisfactory manner, and that said bank knew of no reason why the guaranty bond executed by this defendant should not be continued; but defendant says that in fact, said statements, assertions, and certificates were, and each of them was, false and fraudulent, and known by said bank to be false and fraudulent, but the defendant did not know the same to be false or fraudulent, and, on the contrary, the defendant believed and relied on said statements and each of them, and but for said statements, assertions, and certificates, the defendant would not have renewed or continued said bond on June 1, 1895, or June 1, 1896, and the defendant would immediately have cancelled and revoked said bond, as it had a right to do, and as the said bank knew it had a right to do. The said bank purposely withheld from the defendant the proper information as to the acts and conduct and accounts of said McKnight, and thus misled and deceived the defendant.
A reply was filed controverting the affirmative allegations of the answer, and the cause was tried to a jury. Various exceptions were taken by the defendant to the exclusion of offered evidence and to instructions to the jury. A verdict was returned for plaintiff, and from the judgment entered thereon, an appeal was taken to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. That court affirmed the judgment. 103 F. 599.
A writ of certiorari was then allowed.