Norman v. Bullock County Bank
Norman v. Bullock County Bank
Opinion of the Court
Appellee sued appellant in assumpsit. The amended complaint on which the trial was had contained six counts. The first count was one of the common counts, for an account stated. The second was for the purchase price of a note and mortgage executed by one Dow Johnson, to plaintiff, to secure the payment of $446 and advances, etc. The third count was like the second, but was fuller, setting out more in detail the same contract of sale, and the breach thereof. It being-typical of all the other counts, except count 1, we here set out count three in full:
“Third. The plaintiff claims of the defendant the sum of $5,000 as damages, as whereas, heretofore, the plaintiff held a note and mortgage executed by Dow Johnson on, to wit, February 2,1909, and payable to the plaintiff on, to wit, October 1, 1909, upon certain property incorporated therein, including two mules, one wagon, and about 60 bushels of corn, there being then due from the said Dow Johnson, under and by virtue of said note and mortgage aforesaid, to the plaintiff a large sum of money to wit, the sum of $446, and the said defendant then and there agreed on, to wit, December 15, 1909, with the plaintiff, or its duly authorized agent or officer, if the said plaintiff would permit the said Dow Johnson to move on defendant’s plantation and carry with him the said property covered by plaintiff’s mortgage that defendant would pay it the said sum
The defendant demurred to the complaint, assigning a great, number of grounds. The demurrer was overruled, and the defendant pleaded the general issue, the statute of frauds, and no consideration. The trial resulted in favor of the plaintiff. The defendant then moved for- a new trial, which motion, being heard and argued, was overruled. The defendant appeals, and assigns various errors as to rulings on pleadings, as to charges of. the court, and as to the overruling of the motion for a new trial.
The first errors assigned go to the overruling of the demurrer to each count of the complaint except the first. The grounds of the demurrer to the second count are to the effect that the count failed to show that the note in question was executed to plaintiff, or that plaintiff had any interest, therein. This was matter for special i)lea in defense, if the plaintiff did not own the note and mortgage.
The grounds of the demurrer to the third count were that the count failed to show who executed the note and mortgage, or to whom they were executed, and failed to allege that the amount due was secured by said mortgage on the personal property, and failed to show that defendant promised to pay the sum of $290, and failed to show a consideration for the alleged promise. There was nothing in any of these grounds. Most of them were speaking demurrers.
The trial court erred in its oral charge to the jury, as to the measure of damages, in Avhich it was said:
“If the jury should find a verdict for the plaintiff, the measure of damages would be the price agreed to be paid for the note and mortgage if a price ivas agreed upon, in controversy, with interest thereon from the time the contract was made by the defendant for the purchase of the note and mortgage up to the time of trial.”
This instruction was correct as applied to count 2, and to one phase of the evidence that there was a completed sale of the note and mortgage except as to the payment of the purchase price; but it was incorrect as applied to count 3, and to that phase of the evidence which tended to show that the plaintiff never parted with the title to the note and mortgage, but asserted title thereto, after the contract to purchase. Counts 3 and á proceeded upon the theory that the plaintiff never parted with the title to the note and mortgage for the reason that the defendant failed to perform his part of the contract or agreement to purchase; that is, these counts sought to recover the damages which the plaintiff suffered on account of the defendant’s failure to comply with his contract to purchase. In fact, these
There was alleged and proven a sufficient consideration to support the sale and the promise of the defendant, if the jury believed the plaintiff’s evidence.
The contract of sale was not within the statute of frauds; there was no promise to answer for the debt, default or miscarriage of another. The plaintiff’s evidence, if believed, showed a straight-out sale of the account due the plaintiff from Dow Johnson, which account was evidenced by a note and mortgage. It is true that the contract of sale was at first conditioned upon Dow Johnson’s moving onto the defendant’s place and being allowed to carry the mortgaged property thereupon, but after this condition happened the contract became absolute; and, if the plaintiff’s evidence is to be believed, the defendant requested time in which to pay the pur
The defendant denied in toto the contract of sale or purchase by him of the account, note, and mortgage, or that he requested or obtained an extension of the time of payment, or agreed to pay interest, or that he ever promised to pay the amount of $290, or any other amount. The plaintiff’s and the defendant’s evidence was in irreconciliable conflict as to the whole matter, sale or no sale. The defendant’s evidence other than his own tended to show that there was no sale and no promise on his part to pay, that the debt was all the while carried by the plaintiff against Dow Johnson, and that plaintiff endeavored to collect it from Johnson, and was not looking to defendant to pay it; while he himself, as a witness, denied ever purchasing the account, note, or mortgage, or ever agreeing to pay anything on account of the matter. This conflict, of course, made it a question for the jury; and the court properly declined to instruct the jury, if they believed the evidence, to find for the defendant.
Mr. Ely, a witness for the plaintiff, and who claims to have made the trade with the defendant, was several times examined and cross-examined, and we will here give what he testifies to as being the substance of the transaction:
“I will repeat the conversation had with Mr. Norman about permitting Johnson to remove the property that the Bullock County Bank had a mortgage on to his place; Mr. Norman came in the bank and asked me the
If this evidence be true, the plaintiff was entitled to recover the $290, and interest from the time he promised to pay. It is true that this agreement was positively denied by the defendant, which, of course, made it a question of fact for the jury, and not of law for the court.
The requested charges of defendant were properly refused. They each go upon the theory that the plaintiff was suing on a promise of the defendant to pay the debt of Dow Johnson, and that, in order to recover, the plaintiff must have released Dow Johnson entirely. That is not the true theory of the case. Plaintiff’s case was that it sold or contracted to sell the account, note, and mortgage against Dow Johnson, amounting to $466, to
For the error pointed out the judgment must be reversed, and the cause remanded.
Reversed and remanded.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.