Terrell v. Bennet
Terrell v. Bennet
Opinion of the Court
delivering the opinion.
It would be a useless and vain thing to undertake to go over, seriatim, the various specifications set forth in the record. We state the general proposition to be this : that in an action at law for deceit, in falsely representing a third person fit to be trusted, the scienter is material, and must be alleged and proved. The word fraudulently has been hold to be, a sufficient substitute for the other allegation. (1. Chitty's Pl. 388, and note. Willes' R. 584.)
This is the tost, then, by which the instructions submitted by the Court to the Jury, and those which were withhold, are to be tried. Fraud is the gist of the proceeding. The representation must not only be false, but it - must originate in a fraudulent motive, either to injure the party who is thereby circumvented, or to benefit the one who makes the representation. And whenever this is done, and the deception is practiced successfully, whereby damages result, a right of action accrues.
We affirm the judgment of the Court below in granting the new trial, leaving it for the parties to determine, for themselves, whether they will litigate further upon the special facts of the case.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Samuel L. Terrell, in error v. Wm. B. Bennet, in error
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published