Case Name: KEATON v. SHERROD
Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1915-06-25
Citations: 16 Ga. App. 473
Docket Number: 5977
Parties: KEATON v. SHERROD.
Judges: 
Reporter: Georgia Appeals Reports
Volume: 16
Pages: 473–474

Head Matter:
5977.
KEATON v. SHERROD.
The court erred in ruling out the defendant’s testimony, and in directing a verdict for the plaintiff.
Decided June 25, 1915.
Complaint; from city court of Cairo — Judge Singletary. July 31, 1914.
J. Q. Smith, for plaintiff in error. Lebbeus Dekle, contra.

Opinion:
Bussell, C. J.
The majority of the court are of the opinion that while the books of the partnership would be primary proof of the state of the mutual accounts between the partners, the mere fact that this is true would not require the exclusion of testimony of an independent fact, to wit, that there was an agreement between the parties that the aggregate amount of certain items, perhaps appearing upon the books, was to be entered as a credit upon the note given by the defendant to the plaintiff, which formed the basis of the suit. There would not necessarily be any conflict between this evidence of an agreement that a credit should be entered and any entry which might appear upon the books, and, in fact, the independent fact to which the defendant offered to testify might of necessity rest in parol. For this reason we think the court erred in excluding the testimony offered to show that the plaintiff agreed to enter upon the note the credit which he thereafter failed to enter. Judgment reversed.