King v. Gleason
King v. Gleason
Opinion of the Court
This case was before the District Court of Jackson County upon a second amended petition, filed therein on April 6, 1891. A brief synopsis of said amended petition is as follows :
1. The partnership of plaintiffs as Henry W. King & Co., pleaded.
2. That the defendant, the First National Bank of Conneautville, Pa., is a corporation under act of Congress. That defendants W. B. and W. S. Gleason, for two years last past, have been partners as Gleason & Co , doing a retail mercantile business at Holton,
3. That twelve thousand dollars in value was as large a stock of goods as they ought to carry.
4. That in July, 1890, they should have decreased their stock rather than increased it.
5. In July and August, 1890, Gleason & Co. were indebted to others than their codefendants herein, for not less than ten thousand dollars, and now claim that they were indebted to their codefendants about twenty thousand dollars.
6. In July or August, 1890, defendants entered into a conspiracy to defraud wholesale houses.
7. Pursuant to said conspiracy, Gleason & Co., in July and August, 1890, purchased of fifty-five scattered wholesale houses goods aggregating in value eighteen thousand dollars, upon a credit of from seven months’ to a year’s time. Among the others, they purchased of the plaintiffs goods worth $752.25, upon seven months’ credit.
8. At and prior to said purchase, Gleason & Co. represented that they were solvent, which was fraudulent and untrue if they owed their codefendants as now claimed. Plaintiffs sold said goods, relying upon said representations.
9. On December 26, 1890, W. S. Gleason pretended to sell his interest in the firm of Gleason & Co. to W. B. Gleason; the next day W. B. Gleason gave five chattel mortgages on all his goods to his codefendants other than the Gleasons, and delivered the possession thereof to them, and then made a general assignment for the benefit of all his creditors, having first taken care to prevent any property whatsoever getting into the hands of his assignee.” That thereupon defendants other than the Gleasons took all of said property and converted it to their own use, to the damage of the plaintiffs in the sum of one thousand dollars, and defendants are indebted to them therefor.
11. W. B. Gleason and W. S. Gleason have a secret trust in said property and have no property subject to execution; and the other defendants, except W. S. Gleason and A. H. Williams, are non-residents of Kansas, and, unless restrained, will sell said goods and take the proceeds beyond the jurisdiction of the court.
12. Judgment is demanded against each of said defendants, except Mrs. W. S. Gleason and A. H. Williams, for one thousand dollars as damages sustained, and an order that a temporary injunction issue ; followed by a prayer for general relief.
An answer and reply were duly filed, the case regularly called for trial, a jury impaneled, and a witness sworn and put upon the stand, when the court sustained an objection to the introduction of any evidence under the second amended petition, and rendered judgment for the defendants for costs. A motion for a new trial was duly made and overruled, and the case is now before us for review.
We have sought in vain through the two briefs- filed by the plaintiff in error for that .“ concise abstract or statement of the case,” and “specifications of error relied upon, set out separately and particularly,” mentioned and required by rule six of this court, but we have nevertheless examined the case on its merits.
The primary question in this case is, Did the court err in excluding evidence under the second amended petition? The exact reason that actuated the court in sustaining the objection to evidence, we can only
The other question is, Had the plaintiffs estopped themselves from claiming any relief under their last amended petition? It is claimed by defendants in error that the plaintiffs, by their first petition, having declared upon the contract of sale and prayed for judgment for the price of the goods, will not after-wards be allowed to repudiate the sale and collect damages from the conspirators for fraudulently obtaining them. It seems to be well settled by the Supreme Court of Kansas that, where a party has a right to a choice between two inconsistent remedies, and, with full knowledge of the facts, chooses one of them, he cannot afterwards change his election and choose the other. Plow Co. v. Rogers, 53 Kan. 743; National Bank v. National Bank, 57 id. 115; City of Larned v. Jordan, 55 id. 124.
The plaintiffs in their first petition set up substantially the same state of facts as in their last petition, and asked a judgment against Gleason & Go. for the value of the goods, wares and merchandise procured by them of plaintiffs through a conspiracy as therein alleged, and that said judgment be paid from the proceeds of the property of Gleason & Co. attempted to be diverted from such appropriation. In the second amended petition the plaintiffs asked a judgment
The court committed reversible error in refusing to hear evidence under the last petition. The judgment of the court below Will be reversed, and a new trial ordered.
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