In Re Estate of Cowell

Opinion

At the close of the argument Shaw, J., delivered the opinion of the court, Sloss, J., and Lawlor, J., concurring:

The record in this case presents an appeal by certain heirs of Ernest Y. Cowell, deceased, from an order of partial distribution of the estate of Ernest V. Cowell, distributing to Yalente one thousand dollars under the sixth clause of the will. That clause has been before this court heretofore in the Estate of Cowell on the application of Minkel, reported in 167 Cal. 229, [139 Pac. 84], The legal questions arising under the will have all been settled in that ease and in the case preceding it in the same volume. The only question presented here is whether or not Mr. Yalente had been an employee of The Henry Cowell Lime and Cement Company for three years or more preceding January 1, 1911, *157 the date fixed in the will. It is a mere question of the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the finding, and of course the rule is too well known to require more than the statement that whenever the evidence is in conflict this court cannot interfere with the finding of the court below, if the conflict is substantial. Taking this evidence as a whole, there is ample circumstantial evidence in connection with the evidence of Mr. Yalente to justify a finding that Mr. Yalente was an employee of The Henry Cowell Lime and Cement Company for more than three years preceding the date stated. While there is other evidence that might have justified a contrary decision, the court was not obliged to believe that evidence in the face of the facts established by the circumstantial evidence and the evidence of Yalente. It is not necessary to state the evidence more fully. The conclusion of the court is that the evidence justified the conclusion of the court below on that ground. The order is affirmed.