Smith v. California Portland Cement Co.

In this action both parties sought to quiet their title to a certain parcel of real property. From a judgment in favor of the defendant, the plaintiffs have appealed.

The sole ground of reversal urged is that the court erred in refusing to admit into evidence the county recorder’s record of a certain deed. It appears that this deed was written in Spanish and at the bottom thereof was what purported to be an English translation of the same. The deed was dated September 30, 1869, was acknowledged October 6, 1879, and was recorded May 5, 1882, with the certificate of the recorder that the same was “a full, true' and correct copy of that part of the original which is written in English”. Omitting the acknowledgment the purported translation of the deed reads as follows:

This purported translation was read into evidence and, at the request of counsel for both sides, the court’s ruling on its admissibility was reserved and other evidence received. At the close of the appellants’ case, the court stated that in order to clear up the record the objection to the admission of the deed would be sustained.

A surveyor of long experience, who was a witness for the appellants, testified that…