Opinion ID: 1503879
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: schedule of payments)

Text: (The installments referred to on the reverse side hereof shall be) sixty (in number and payable one on the same day of each successive) month (hereafter as the day of the date hereof. The) said (installments shall be in the amount of $) 32.77 (each. This note was endorsed by the undersigned to induce the payee to forbear the enforcement of its past due claim against the maker and to grant the extension in the manner set forth in the within note and nine other similar notes, this note representing 1/10th of said indebtedness. _________________________________________________________________ Margaret Ford _________________________________________________________________ James E. Reynolds, Jr. There is a complete contradiction in the evidence concerning what transpired during the procurement of the various endorsements. Ford and the appellants testified in substance as follows: That Freeman assured them at the time their signatures as endorsers were procured that the purpose of the note was to obtain a new line of credit for Ford in order to enable him to get back in or continue in business. Their unanimous testimony also was that the eight typewritten lines above the last signature, purporting to recite the consideration for the note, were not on the note at the time that they endorsed it. Ford made one monthly payment on the ten notes of $32.77 each and thereafter refused to make further payments for the alleged reason that an additional line of credit was not forthcoming from plaintiff. Each of the endorsers refused to make any payments for the same reason. The defenses of the appellants were: (a) a subsequent material alteration of the note, and (b) either a failure of consideration or a conditional delivery, the condition not being made. Yetta Blank, who prepared the notes for Glassner, testified that she had typed the eight typewritten lines on the back of the notes at the time she was preparing the notes for execution. Her testimony further was that she had typed the clause prior to inserting the notes in a checkwriting machine or protectograph which impressed the amount of the note on the face. The checkwriting machine does not print the amount on the note, but rather stamps or impresses it, resulting in a raising up or semi-perforation on the back. The plaintiff called as witnesses two experts on questioned documents. These experts performed two types of tests on the notes which led them to the conclusion that the eight typewritten lines were on the note at the time the note was prepared for execution, and therefore at the time the endorsers placed their signatures thereon. The first test is denominated the plate test. This consists of placing a glass measure showing lines to the inch (vertically and horizontally) over the note and then photographing the note and enlarging the photograph. The purpose of the test was to demonstrate the exact alignment of the type, both vertically and horizontally. The conclusion drawn from the test was that the typewritten letters on the note were in alignment. One of the experts testified that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, on any one document to get the vertical alignment proper and get these lines parallel after a note had once been removed from the typewriter and then reinserted. His conclusion was buttressed by the added factor that this would have to have been done not once but nine times to complete these notes. Moreover, it was explained that: We have not only the problem of adjusting the original copy, which is, as I have described, a very difficult thing to do to get the vertical alignment right and to get the lines parallel, but we have the second thing, and that is to get the carbon copy in exact register with the original. Now, one might do that where there is no carbon paper in between by holding them up to a strong light and adjusting them that way, but then there is the problem of getting carbon paper between. The paper is black and it is not possible to transmit light to adjust them. Therefore, the only way they could be put back together would be purely by chance, and consequently when I found, as I will demonstrate from this exhibit  and it's true of all the carbon copies  that the alignment in the carbon copy was proper just the way it would be if these were put in the machine and typewritten all the way through, I had to conclude then that the carbon copies had been typewritten in a continuous typing operation, that you are just taking and creating just an improbable situation to have reinserted one of these and gotten it in perfect register and then got it adjusted so that you get these lines absolutely parallel, which they are.    The second test performed was to examine microscopically the back of the note (in order to illustrate his conclusions the expert had photographic enlargements of portions of the note made). Part of the impression made by the checkwriting machine covered the area on the back where the disputed typewritten lines were. As previously explained the checkwriting machine does not merely print, but impresses or embosses the paper and gives it a roughness apparent to the naked eye. Microscopic examination demonstrated by photographic enlargements indicated breaks or ridges in the typewriting. It was opined that if the eight typewritten lines had been placed upon the notes after the note had been placed in the checkwriting machine, the impact of the typewriter keys would have flattened the breaks or ridges when coming in contact with them. Nonetheless, the endorsers denied that the eight lines appeared on the note at the time they endorsed. After default by Ford the plaintiff commenced suit against Ford, his wife and nine of the ten endorsers (as previously stated, the tenth endorser was without the jurisdiction). The action was tried before a judge and jury and the jury returned a verdict in favor of all defendants. The court submitted written interrogatories to the jury requiring them to respond in writing to the question of whether the inducement for the endorsements was a representation to the endorsers that a new line of credit would be extended to Ford, and the jury's reply was yes. The further interrogatory was propounded inquiring as to whether the eight typewritten lines were placed on the note before or after the endorsements were executed and the jury's reply was after. Thereafter the trial court set aside the verdicts of the jury as contrary to the weight of the evidence and ordered a new trial. Cross-applications for leave to appeal the trial court's action were denied by the Superior Court, Appellate Division. At the retrial below the plaintiff made a motion to have the case tried without a jury, relying upon the waiver of jury trial appearing on the note. This motion was denied. In addition the plaintiff made a motion to excise the disputed eight typewritten lines on the back of the note prior to introducing the notes in evidence. This motion was also denied. At the instant trial, the trial court set aside the verdicts of no cause of action against the nine endorsers rendered by the jury and directed that a judgment be entered in favor of the plaintiff and against the endorsers. The court in its opinion stated: A fair weighing of the evidence indubitably supports the conclusion that the `8' typewritten lines existed before and were not produced after the several endorsements. Furthermore, all denial of that evidence is limited solely to the testimony of the endorsing defendants (who appeared) and is otherwise unsupported. No contradicting expert evidence is proffered.    Although a jury might rightfully weigh the credibility of expert testimony and is not bound to accept its conclusiveness, the jury in this case, where, as here, the evidence was clear and demonstrative of correctness was not privileged to disregard it. The evidential weight of qualified expert knowledge was not credibly disputed and every plausible conclusion sustained the opinion expressed.