Goldberger v. Goldberger
Goldberger v. Goldberger
Opinion of the Court
Appellee, Max Goldberger, brought this action against appellant, Maurice Goldberger, for an accounting for money alleged to have been received by appellant on collection of certain fire insurance policies assigned to him by appellee. The court, upon proper request, made a special finding of facts and stated conclusions of law thereon favorable to appellee; that he was entitled to an account
In the brief filed on behalf of appellant it is stated that: “The finding of facts furnishes a very excellent history of the case and is conceded to be true except as to numbers 10 and 20.” Appellant’s attorneys also state on page 39 of their brief that there are no legal propositions involved in this appeal, and, therefore, they cite no authorities, so that the sole question presented here is one of fact. It is shown, in substance, by the special finding of facts that in September, 1907, appellee was the owner of a stock of merchandise and fixtures situate in a store building owned by him in the city of Pueblo, Colorado, where he then resided, on which he carried policies of insurance against loss by fire in various companies aggregating $16,500; that on September 28, 1907, said property was destroyed by fire. Proofs of loss were filed with the several insurance companies by appellee, claiming a total loss under said policies. The proofs of loss were rejected for various reasons, including a claim that appellee had set fire to his said property and payment was refused. In February, 1908, appellee was tried, convicted of the crime of arson, and sentenced to a term of years in the Golorado penitentiary. Appellant, who was a brother of appellee, took an assignment of the various insurance policies aggregating $16,500, with the understanding and agreement that he-should bring suit for their collection, and after paying the expenses incurred therein,
Objections were made to special findings Nos. 10 and 20, respectively. Said findings read as follows: “That a few days after the' defendant’s (appellant’s) return to Fort Wayne, Indiana, A. W. Harrington, attorney for the plaintiff (appellee) in said criminal proceeding wrote this defendant that this plaintiff would make an absolute assignment of said policies to this defendant if this defendant would pay said attorney $650 necessary to prosecute said appeal of said criminal case. This proposition was not accepted by plaintiff, but thereafter plaintiff and defendant agreed that plaintiff should assign all of his said policies to defendant a,rid defendant should collect the same, and out of any sum collected should re-emburse himself for all moneys paid or advanced for plaintiff and for all expenses of collection. Subsequently, said policies were all assigned by this plaintiff by endorsing his name thereon and were forwarded by express to this defendant.” No. 20: “That the defendant herein, out. of said sum paid the detectives so employed by him, the sum of $600 as commission upon the amount of said collection as so agreed by him, which payment was reasonable, in
With respect to special finding No. 10, it is contended that the evidence showed conclusively that appellant made an absolute purchase of the insurance policies upon which he collected the money in dispute, and, he was, therefore, not liable for an accounting; that finding No. 10 is in exact opposition to the facts thus shown by the evidence.
It is settled that special findings of fact will not be set aside on the ground of the insufficiency of the evidence, unless there is no legal evidence to sustain them. Muncie, etc., Traction Co. v. Citizens Gas, etc., Co. (1913), 179 Ind. 322, 100 N. E. 65. There is evidence to the effect that there were some negotiations between appellant and appellee concerning the collection of the losses sustained by appellee, and the steps that should be taken to realize on the insurance policies, which finally resulted in their assignment to appellant. Appellee states that the assignment was made to secure appellant for moneys advanced to him; that after the expenses incurred were paid, the remainder, if any, was to be paid to him. Appellant claims that the sale was absolute, that whatever he realized from the policies after paying expenses was to be his own. The trial court evidently weighed these conflicting statements and gave most credit to the appellee. Under the settled rule we can not say that there is no evidence to sustain the court’s finding.
It is also urged, in connection with finding No. 20, that even if appellant were liable to account, and held the insurance policies in a trust capacity, he was liable for a sum considerably less than that adjudged against him; that by finding No. 20 the court finds that appellant paid' detectives employed by him the sum of $600, which he is allowed upon his ae
Note. — Reported in 111 N. E. 453. See, also, 3 Cye 360, 370.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.