In re the Estate of Taylor

On December 24, 1889, the superior court of Sonoma County admitted to probate a certain will of Simpson P. Taylor, deceased, dated October 29, 1889. Thereafter a petition was filed in that court asking that the order admitting said will to probate be annulled and set aside, upon the alleged grounds of the incompetency of the deceased to make said will, and also, because at the time of making the same he was acting under the influence of certain fraudulent representations, alleged to have been made by one C. C. Taylor, a legatee named in the will. Special issues were submitted to the jury, involving every question in issue, and the jury found, in substance, that all the allegations of the petition were true. Judgment was thereupon entered annulling and revoking the probate of said will, and this appeal is from that judgment, and an order denying a motion for a new trial.

1. Mrs. Harriet Wetmur was a witness for contestants, and during her direct examination she was asked: “Will you tell the jury whether or not, in your judgment, from conversations you had with him, seeing what you saw, and knowing what you knew and now know about it, — whether, in your judgment, on the…