Jaffke v. Dunham

[ 352 U.S. Page 280] We granted certiorari in this case to review a judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit,
229 F.2d 232, reversing an order of the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, sitting in bankruptcy, which
required respondent as trustee of a bankrupt's estate to pay $27,400 to petitioner. 351 U.S. 949. The District Court's order
was based on a finding that, subsequent to [ 352 U.S. Page 281] the date of the adjudication of bankruptcy, the bankrupt
had obtained money by fraud from the petitioner and had turned over $27,400 of that money to respondent. At the hearing before
the District Court, petitioner had sought to introduce into evidence an affidavit in which the bankrupt stated that he had
paid $36,000 of the money he had received from petitioner to the respondent. At the conclusion of the hearing, the District
Court sustained respondent's motion to strike the affidavit. On appeal, the Court of Appeals held that petitioner had failed to prove that any specific portion of the money that he had
given the bankrupt became a part of the funds in the hands of respondent. Because petitioner had not cross-appealed, the
Court of Appeals held that it could not consider the action of the District Court in striking the bankrupt's affidavit from
the record.