Case: HENRY STERN v. THE UNITED STATES
Abbreviation: Stern v. United States
Decision Date: 1897-06-24
Docket Number: Congressional, 4369
Citation: 32 Ct. Cl. 533
Volume: 32
Reporter: United States Court of Claims Reports
Court: United States Court of Claims
Jurisdiction: United States
Parties: HENRY STERN v. THE UNITED STATES.
Judges: 
Pages: 533–535

Head Matter:
HENRY STERN v. THE UNITED STATES.
[Congressional, 4369.
Decided June 24, 1897.]
On the Proofs.
The claimant is a witness on his own behalf before the Southern Claims Commission. The Commission reports against him on loyalty. In this court the defendants introduce documentary evidence from the Confederate archives, consisting of vouchers, etc. The claimant is again examined on his own behalf, partly in rebuttal of the documentary evidence and partly to strengthen his case on loyalty. No other evidence is offered by him.
I.Where a claimant was examined on his own behalf before the Southern Claims Commission and is again examined on his own behalf in this court, and no other evidence is offered by him, it must be held that the case is resubmitted on substantially the same evidence, and comes within the decision in the Calhoun Case. (24 C. Cls. R , 414.)
II.The fact that the new testimony is partly in rebuttal of new evidence given by the defendants, and is sufficient to rebut it, does not take the case out of the rule.
III.Recalling a witness after the close of the testimony, except for the purpose of rebuttal, is in the discretion of the court; but the discretion should not be exercised merely to enable the witness to strengthen his testimony by a restatement of it.
The Reporters1 statement of the case:
The facts of the case will be found stated in the opinion of the court.
Mr. P. F. Dye for the claimant.
Mr. Felix Brannigan (with whom was Mr. Assistant Attorney - General JDodge) for the defendants.

Opinion:
Weldon, J.,
delivered the opinion of the court:
This is a claim for stores and supplies alleged to have been taken from the claimant in April, 1865, by the military forces of the United States, for the use of the army, at Union Springs, in the State of Alabama.
The claim was filed before the Commissioners of Claims for the sum of $1,700. The Commission did not pass upon the merits of the claim, but rejected it on loyalty. On May 1,1888, it was referred to this court by the House of Eepresentatives under the Bowman Act, and is now before us on the preliminary question of loyalty.
In the proceeding before the Commission three witnesses were examined — the claimant and two others — and upon their testimony the claim was rejected for want of sufficient proof upon the issue of loyalty.
Since the reference to this court the claimant has been reexamined principally in rebuttal of certain vouchers and documents procured from the Confederate archives by the defendants. It is now insisted by claimant that the testimony is sufficient to establish loyalty, notwithstanding the production of papers from the Confederate archives purporting to have been signed and executed by the claimant.
Defendants' counsel insist that tbe case falls within the law as established by the case of Calhoun (24 C. Cls. R., 414), in which it is said:
u This court is not authorized to sit in review of the decision of the Quartermaster-General or the Southern Claims Commission, and when the claimant does not pursue his remedy by new evidence his claim must be dismissed."
That decision has been adhered to in many cases which have been decided since its rendition, and we have never felt the necessity of modifying it in any subsequent case. It embodies a wise principle most admirably adapted to the legal condition incident to the investigation of claims coming from the Quartermaster-General and Commissioners of Claims under the special jurisdiction of the Bowman Act.
In this case the claimant was recalled, and so far as his testimony goes in rebuttal of the new evidence upon the part of the defendants, it is competent to be considered; but if we assume that the new evidence is overcome by the testimony of the claimant, the issue is left where it was when determined by the Commissioners of Claims. Recalling a witness after the close of the testimony, except for the purpose of rebuttal, is sometimes allowed in the discretion of the court, but the discretion should be exercised with great care, and never for the purpose of strengthening the testimony of the witness by a restatement of his evidence. A different rule would work most disastrously in the administration of justice under the forms of judicial proceedings. (Atocha's 8 Case, 6 C. Cls. R., 95.) The claimant had, under the searching examination of the Claims Commission, the most abundant opportunity to state every fact connected with his life and conduct during the war, and it is not pretended that he by mistake omitted or stated any material fact tending to establish his loyalty.
To say that this case is not before this court on the same evidence that was before the Commission because the claimant has been reexamined upon the vouchers which axe offered by the defendants would be to contradict the substantial facts of the record and overrule the spirit of the law which was announced in the Calhoun Case and which has become a landmark in the jurisdiction of the Bowman Act cases. Because of the very close analogy between this and that case a finding of disloyalty is made.