Case Name: DEVINNY vs. ANKRIM
Court: Harrison County Court of Common Pleas
Jurisdiction: Ohio
Decision Date: 1817-03
Citations: 1 Tapp. Rep. 111
Docket Number: 
Parties: DEVINNY vs. ANKRIM.
Judges: 
Reporter: Cases decided in the Courts of common pleas, in the Fifth circuit of the state of Ohio [1816-1819] (Tappan)
Volume: 1
Pages: 111–111

Head Matter:
DEVINNY vs. ANKRIM.
Witness standing in a similar situation with the party calling him, goes to the credibility, not the competency, of the witness.
Covenant broken. The breach assigned, was the not conveying a town lot to the plaintiff.
Mathew Kennedy was offered as a witness for the plaintiff.
Beebe, for the defendant,
objected to him as interested in the question to be decided in this cause; and. stated that the witness had bought another lot of the defendant in the same town, on the same terms, and had a claim against the defendant for damages, on the same ground which is relied upon in support of this action.
Wright, for the plaintiff,
admitted the facts stated by Beebe, and urged that nothing should exclude a witness on the score of interest, but an interest in the event of the suit.

Opinion:
President.
Kennedy has no interest in the event of this suit, nor can it be perceived that he has an interest in the question. The decision, in this cause, can be of no use to him, whether it be in favor of the plaintiff or defendant. His claim, if he ever brings a suit on it, must be supported by other evidence than the record in this cause.
To exclude a witness on the ground of interest, it must appear that he is directly interested in the' event of the suit; standing in a similar situation with the party by whom he is called; and the possibility that the decision obtained by his evidence may influence the minds of a jury in his own case, furnish arguments against his credibility, but do not affect his competency; he is, therefore, a competent witness.