Cross-examination documents may stay on record and be later proved in evidence if legally supportable and properly pleaded.

A document first put to a witness in cross-examination is not barred merely because it was not filed with the pleadings or before settlement of issues. If the witness admits it, the issue ends; if the witness denies it, the court must retain the document on the file to evaluate what was shown and what was denied. The court also clarified that the party producing such a document may, if otherwise entitled in law and supported by proper pleadings, later prove it in its own evidence. This use is confined to documents genuinely relevant to cross-examination and cannot be used to circumvent procedural filing requirements.

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Issues: Whether a document first produced during cross-examination, if denied by the witness, must be retained on the court file and whether the party producing it may later prove it in its own evidence despite not filing it with the pleadings.

Analysis: The provisions governing filing of documents with pleadings and before settlement of issues do not bar a party from confronting a witness with a document for the first time in cross-examination. If the witness admits the document, no difficulty arises. If the witness denies it, the document cannot be returned, because the court must retain it to assess what was shown and what was denied, and to determine the effect of the answer. The court also held that the legislative purpose of permitting such documents in cross-examination is to preserve an element of surprise, but that right would be unduly curtailed if the party producing the document were automatically barred from proving it later in its own evidence, provided such proof is otherwise available within the scheme of the procedural law and the party has a proper foundation in pleadings. The court cautioned that only documents relevant to the witness and suitable for cross-examination should be permitted to be used in this manner, and not documents sought to be smuggled in merely to bypass procedural requirements.

Conclusion: A document put to a witness in cross-examination and denied by the witness must remain on record, and the party producing it may, where otherwise entitled in law, prove it in its own evidence notwithstanding non-filing with the pleadings.

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