Vickery v. Chambers
Vickery v. Chambers
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff, Chambers, sued Vickery upon a breach of warranty made in a horse swap. It appears from the record, that the defendant traded to plaintiff a certain horse which was subject to a mortgage executed by a previous owner in favor of yet another person; that at the time of the trade defendant warranted the horse to be free from incumbrances; that afterwards the mortgage in question was foreclosed and the execution issued thereunder levied upon the property. To this levy the plaintiff in this case filed a claim setting up title in himself derived through the defendant. He notified the defendant of the execution and levy, required him to defend his claim to the horse; and in pursuance
The court upon the trial of the case charged the jury that if, after the horse had been levied on in the hands
We do not think it necessai’y to consider the objections made to the rulings of the court upon the admissibility of the documentary evidence. We do not think the admission or refusal to admit it would have materially changed the case. Whether or not the mortgage lien was valid and binding in this case as against this plaintiff, under the facts as they are presented to us in the record, we do not think the defendant can be heard to urge its invalidity. The filing of the claim by the plaintiff and his subsequent dismissal thereof, with the consent of the defendant by and through the counsel jointly employed by them, is equivalent to an admission made by the defendant that the mortgage was a valid and subsisting lien upon this property. Had the defendant in no manner participated in this litigation, his position with respect to the present case would have been materially different; but where, by his own act, he induces the plaintiff to dismiss his claim, and thus impliedly to admit the validity of the mortgage execution upon the property received by him, in an action like this — upon a breach of warranty — the defendant will be estopped to deny the validity of the mortgage lien. We think the charge of the court was correct. It left for the consideration of the jury the only facts material to be considered in fixing the liability of the defendant; and the jury having found these facts against him, and the verdict being in harmony with and supported by the evidence, this court will not interfere.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.