Schuler v. Winstanley
Schuler v. Winstanley
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff sought to recover personal property, or its value, from the public administrator of Los Angeles County, who was administrator of the estate of John Clark, deceased. The theory of plaintiff’s case was that he was the owner of the property by reason of a gift
(Hr. and Mrs. Spray, and Mr. and Mrs. Martinson, also filed an action against said administrator, seeking to recover the same property. Defendant administrator filed a cross-complaint therein and named Schuler, the plaintiff in the present action, as a cross-defendant. The pleadings in the Spray action are not in the record on this appeal. According to the judgment herein, the two actions were consolidated. The judgment was in favor of defendant and cross-complainant and was against the plaintiffs and cross-defendants. There is no appeal by any of the plaintiffs in the Spray action.)
The contention of appellant is, in effect, that the court erred in finding that decedent did not give the property to appellant.
John Clark, also known as Robert Lee Clark and Professor Clark, was a teacher and the “founder” of “Science of Characteristics,” which pertains to metaphysics. He was also an author of manuscripts relating to that science, and he had copyrights on some of the manuscripts.
Mr. Clark, 79 years of age and without known relatives, had been living at the home of plaintiff Schuler in Eagle Rock about three weeks prior to June 2, 1952. On said June 2 Mr. Clark sustained a broken hip in an accident— when he, a pedestrian in downtown Los Angeles, was struck by a bus. Apparently, at the time of the accident he had two suitcases and a box with him. He was taken to a hospital, and the suitcases and the box were placed in a closet in his room, and other property which he had with him was placed in a deposit box in the office of the hospital. Three days after he was taken to the hospital an operation was performed on his hip, and about two weeks later he was taken from the hospital to the home of Mrs. Murrish in San Gabriel. At that time he was still a bed patient but he was able to move about with assistance. Thereafter pneumonia developed and he died on June 26, 1952.
Plaintiff Schuler, 41 years of age, testified that he met Mr. Clark in 1935, and that as a result of the work of Mr. Clark in the Science of Characteristics Schuler recovered, within six months, from a paralysis which he had had for two and one-half years; after such recovery he became a member of that science organization and an associate teacher of the science, and he has been closely associated with Mr.
It may be stated generally that Mrs. Grimes, Mr. Sauer, and Mrs. Schuler gave testimony which corroborated the testimony of Schuler with respect to taking the property from the hospital. Mrs. Grimes testified, among other things, that Schuler and Clark checked the property item by item and that Clark told Schuler to take the property home with him. Mr. Sauer testified, among other things, that (after Schuler had returned the property to the hospital pursuant to Martinson’s telephone call) Schuler and Clark checked the property, and then Clark told Schuler “to take it back with him again and keep it.” Mrs. Schuler testified, among other things, that Schuler and Clark checked the property (which had been taken from the hospital office) and then Clark told Schuler “to take it home”; and that Clark said further, “You know what to do with it.”; Schuler replied, “I will do that.”
Mr. Painter testified that about June 15, after Clark had left the hospital, and in the presence of Painter, Clark said to Schuler: “I want you to take over my affairs. You have been instructed as to what to do. I want you to carry out these things that I have instructed you to do. You must not show any signs of weakness as this is an important issue.”
Mrs. Martinson, called as a witness by defendant, testified in part that on June 4, 1952, she saw Schuler at the hospital and that he said that Clark “has instructed me as his agent to take these things to my home. I am going to do that.”; she (and Mr. Martinson) were at the hospital on June 8, and Clark asked if they knew what happened to his belongings which he had with him at the time of the accident; they replied that they were present when the things were taken by Schuler and that the things were safe in the home of Schuler; Clark said that he wanted to see his belongings; he asked Mr. Martinson to call Schuler regarding the things; after the funeral, Schuler told them that Clark had told him that “he would be the agent or secretary as he had done in mailing the sheets [regarding science], taking in the dues, the UTS dues, and so forth.”
Mr. Martinson, called as a witness by defendant, testified in substance the same as Mrs. Martinson had testified, ex
In rebuttal, Schuler was asked if he ever stated to Mr. Martinson or Mrs. Martinson that he was Clark’s agent to get property at the hospital. He replied, “I do not recall that I used that particular term.” He testified further that he said, “I was handling Prof. Clark’s affairs and that I had been instructed to get his property.”
According to the complaint, the property sought to be recovered is as follows: $3,613.68, being the aggregate amount on deposit in five banks; three certificates of copyright registration ; $200 cash, a watch, and minor articles, which were in deposit box at the hospital; and various manuscripts and articles which were found in the garages. It was stipulated that one of the alleged bank deposits (for $1,259.58) was not in existence. It seems to be agreed that the other bank accounts are not to be considered a part of the alleged gift causa mortis. The property now claimed under the alleged gift causa mortis consists of the copyrights, manuscripts and other articles which were in the garages, and the $200 cash, watch and other articles which were in the deposit box at the hospital.
Some of the findings of the court were: on March 30, 1953, Schuler made his first claim of ownership of the property; one of the certificates of copyright (AA71003) was not contained in the Kingsley Drive garage; the other two certificates of copyright were found in said garage after the death of Clark; it is not true that the sole means of access to said garage was by means of one key; two keys to said garage had been in possession of the owner of the garage, and one of the keys was lost and the other one remained in possession of the owner during the lifetime of Clark; it is not true that on June 3, 1952, or at any other time, Clark made a gift of the contents of said garage on Kingsley Drive, or any portion thereof, to Schuler by delivering to him the sole means of obtaining possession of said property; it is true that on June 3, 1952, Clark was critically ill in a hospital; it is not true that on said June 3, or at any other time, Clark made a gift or intended to make a gift of any property to Schuler by reason of having instructed the keeper of the deposit box at the hospital to allow Schuler to withdraw the contents of the box; on June 4, 1952, Clark instructed the keeper of said box to release the contents of the box to Schuler for the purpose of bringing the contents to Clark’s hospital room; on
Appellant argues that since there was little, if any, conflicting evidence, the question on appeal pertains to the sufficiency of the evidence to support the judgment. He argues further that: Clark intended to and did make a gift to him of the copyrights and manuscripts relating to the ‘ ‘ Science of Characteristics”; the delivery thereof was made symbolically by Clark by the delivery of keys to the garages where the documents were stored; the gift was made in contemplation of death; Clark died of the ailment which he feared at the time the gift was made; and appellant accepted the gift and took possession of it when it was made. He argues further that there was no object in Clark telling Schuler to take the property home and follow instructions, other than that Schuler was to use the property to carry on the “Science of Characteristics”; it was not unnatural that Clark should give to Schuler, who was the one person who could carry on the science, the only means by which the science could be carried on, namely, the copyrights and manuscripts; Clark’s entire line of thought, as shown by his statements to Schuler, indicates only one thing, namely, that Clark believed he was not long for this world and he intended that Schuler should use the means of carrying on the science; when the suitcases containing the keys to the garages were given to Schuler there was a symbolic delivery of the documents which were in the garages.
■ Respondent (defendant) asserts on appeal that a copyright is not a proper subject of a gift ccmsa mortis for the reason that a valid assignment of a copyright must be in writing. In view of the above conclusion with reference to the sufficiency of the evidence, it is not necessary to decide this contention.
The judgment is affirmed.
Vallée, J., concurred.
Concurring Opinion
I concur. The only question in this ease was whether plaintiff became the owner of certain personal property through a gift thereof by decedent Clark. In disposing of this simple issue the court made 29 findings and 9 conclusions of law. In the lengthy and involved findings of evidentiary matter I do not discover any clear-cut, definite finding as to ownership of the property. Since plaintiff makes no point of it I am concurring in the opinion upon the assumption that the evidentiary facts found could be pieced together in such fashion as to supply the equivalent of a finding of the ultimate fact.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.