Case Name: Richardson v. Wilton
Court: New York Superior Court
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1852-03-06
Citations: 4 Sandf. 708
Docket Number: 
Parties: Richardson v. Wilton.
Judges: 
Reporter: Reports of cases argued and determined in the Superior Court of the city of New York
Volume: 6
Pages: 708–709

Head Matter:
Richardson v. Wilton.
Where the complaint alleges a fact which is presumptively within the defendant’s personal knowledge, he will not, in general, be permitted to answer that he has not knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief, and therefore he denies the same.
If, from lapse of time, or other circumstances, he cannot admit or deny the charge positively, he must set up such circumstances, either in his answer or the affidavit of verification.
March 6, 1852.
The complaint was for an assault, charging that the defendant spit in the plaintiff’s face. The answer as to this allegation ■was, that the defendant has not knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief, whether he did spit in the plaintiff’s face or not, and therefore he denied the same. The plaintiff moved to strike out the answer as sham, irrelevant, or frivolous.
H. A. Griswold, for the plaintiff.
G. Shaffer, for the defendant.

Opinion:
Oakley, Ch. J.,