Dougan v. Mitchell
Dougan v. Mitchell
Opinion of the Court
The note in suit was given for the rent of certain premises leased by plaintiff to the defendants. Defendants pleaded that as an inducement to the lease plaintiff falsely and fraudulently represented that the lands were well tiled and that the tile had a good and sufficient outlet. This was pleaded as a partial failure of the consideration for the note, and was also relied upon as counterclaim for damages. At the conclusion of defendant’s evidence, plaintiff moved for a verdict upon the ground that there was not sufficient evidence to sustain either the affirmative defense or the counterclaim. This motion was sustained, and the appeal is from this ruling.
The question presented is a very narrow one, and that is: Was there sufficient testimony to take the case to the jury upon the issues presented by defendant’s answer? There was testimony tending to show that plaintiff stated to defendants, or to one or both of them, during the negotiations for the lease, that the farm was well tiled; that there was a twelve-inch tile running up through pretty near to the highway; that the tile was all right, although the outlet was not very good, but that he would fix it by opening up the ditch, digging it deeper, and making a better outlet; that he also said the outlet was all right, and, although some of the lateral tiles were then disconnected, they would all be fixed up. There was also testimony to the effect that plaintiff said the outlet or tile was not stopped up, although not very good. There was also testimony to the effect that the tile was not as represented; that an arch had been built over the outlet, which had caved in, thus shutting off the entire outlet; and that plaintiff knew of that fact when he made the representations to defendants, and that damages resulted to defendants because of the condition of the tile and drain. True, one of defendants was upon the premises prior to the making of the lease; but he did not examine the entire drainage sys
Reference
- Full Case Name
- J. E. Dougan v. Ora C. Mitchell and L. Mitchell
- Status
- Published