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Floyd Engle, by His Next Friend E. Womack, vs. Victoria Doe (Alias Silvestra Pulga), G.R. No. L-23317, August 7, 1925

Engle vs. Doe, 47 Phil. 753, August 07, 1925 The court ruled that Engle was not mentally capable of entering into a marriage contract with Doe at the time of their marriage ceremony in December 1922. The evidence showed that Engle had been admitted to a hospital two months prior with diagnoses including insanity, and remained under the care of his physician until shortly before the marriage. Once insanity is proven to exist, the burden is on those asserting sanity to prove it existed at the very time of the act in question.

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472 views2 pages

Floyd Engle, by His Next Friend E. Womack, vs. Victoria Doe (Alias Silvestra Pulga), G.R. No. L-23317, August 7, 1925

Engle vs. Doe, 47 Phil. 753, August 07, 1925 The court ruled that Engle was not mentally capable of entering into a marriage contract with Doe at the time of their marriage ceremony in December 1922. The evidence showed that Engle had been admitted to a hospital two months prior with diagnoses including insanity, and remained under the care of his physician until shortly before the marriage. Once insanity is proven to exist, the burden is on those asserting sanity to prove it existed at the very time of the act in question.

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Edgar Joshua Timbang
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Engle vs. Doe, 47 Phil.

753, August 07, 1925


JOHNS, J.:

In civil actions the burden of proof rests upon him who alleges insanity to establish
that fact by a preponderance of the evidence, but where insanity is once proved to
exist, the burden of proof is then shifted to him who asserts that the act was done
while the person was sane.

LEGAL DOCTRINE: Annulment of marriage; burden of proof


FACTS:

 On October 18, 1922, Floyd Engle became an inmate of St. Luke's Hospital in the
City of Manila with Dr. N. M. Saleeby as his physician. It appears from the
hospital records that at the time of his admission his disease was defined as:
"Insanity, Delusional & Melancholic & Amebic lnfection & Tertiary Syphilis"

 He remained in the hospital under the care of Doctor Saleeby until sometime in
March, 1923, when he was taken to Baguio, and upon his return to Manila in
June, he left for the United States. The marriage ceremony between Engle and the
defendant was performed in the hospital on December 7, 1922.

 December 20, 1922, a petition for the appointment of a guardian for him, alleging
insanity, was filed in the Court of First Instance of Manila, and on December 29,
1922, H. C. Powers was appointed guardian of his person and J. V. House
guardian of his property.

 After the marriage Engle and the defendant never lived together as husband and
wife, and on the following day the defendant left Manila and went back to
Tacloban, Leyte, which was Engle's former residence, and made an effort to
obtain possession of all of his business and property.
ISSUE:
Whether or not at the time of the marriage Engle was of sound mind and
mentally capable of entering into a marriage contract.
HELD/RULING:

 No. It will be noted that he was admitted to the hospital October 18, 1922, and
the nature of his disease at the time of his admission was described in the
hospital records as: "Insanity, Delusional & Melancholic & Amebic Infection &
Tertiary Syphilis" and that his alleged marriage to the defendant took place on
December 7, 1922, fifty days after that time. That during all of the time that Engle
was in the hospital, he was under the personal charge of Doctor Saleeby, who
was his only physician.

 The record is conclusive that Doctor Saleeby was a fair and impartial witness,
and that he had no interest whatever in the result of this suit, and that he was in
daily attendance upon Engle from the time that he entered until he left the
hospital, covering a period of about five months. His testimony is materially
strengthened and corroborated by the evidence of J. V. House, H. C. Powers, and
E. Womack, who were lifelong personal and intimate friends of Engle. Opposed
to this is the evidence of the defendant and the Reverend H. J. Parker, who
performed the marriage ceremony.

 Under section 10, General Orders No. 68, a marriage may be annulled where it
appears that either party was of unsound mind at the time of the marriage, or
that either party at the time is physically incapable of entering into the marriage
state when such incapacity continues and appears to be incurable. Where general
insanity is once shown to exist, it is presumed to continue, and if a recovery or
lucid interval is alleged to have occurred, the burden of proving that allegation is
on the person making it.

 Where it is shown that insanity once existed, and it is sought to prove that a
subsequent act was done in a lucid interval, sanity must be shown to exist at the
very time of the act in question, and it is not sufficient to show a lucid interval
before and after the day of the act. In construing the evidence as to the insanity of
a person, much weight should be given to his physician who is learned and
experienced in his profession, and who for a long time was in daily attendance
upon him as his physician.

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