Case # 469
Ripley E. W. Adams
Rufus Colton
Will County
Justice Thomas C. Browne
Colton sued Adams in an action of assumpsit to recover a debt. The circuit court overruled the motion for a continuance, despite Adams's affidavit to present a witness who could testify to a set-off of the debt. A jury found for Colton, and Adams appealed. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case for a new trial because the circuit court's refusal to grant a continuance based on the absence of a crucial witness was an error.