Storch v. A. B. Harvey & Co.
Storch v. A. B. Harvey & Co.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
George Storch brought this action against A. B. Harvey & Co. to recover $493.95, alleged to be due as rent for a store building in Muscotah. A written lease was executed on February 6, 1884, “for the term of one year, with the option of the second party to keep said premises three years, if so desired, at the same rate of rent as the first year.” The rent agreed to be paid was $282 a year, in
It is conceded that the defendants surrendered the possession of the property on July 1, 1885, and that they paid the rent for the term of one year, and also at the rate of $23.50 per month for the time which they held it beyond the year.
The rent for the fractional month from June 6, 1885, to July 1, 1885, was $19.50, which was paid by defendants and accepted, and no further demand for rent was made until December 6, 1887, which was ten months after the expiration of three years. The testimony of Harvey was to the effect that he went to Stoich about a month previous to the .expiration of the term, and notified him that they would not hold the premises under the lease beyond the term, and at the same time entered into another contract with him, by which they
Plaintiff seems to contend that a writing was necessary between the parties in order to change the terms of the lease, or the conditions under which they continued in possession of the premises. There is no change of the original lease; it terminated at the end of the year, unless the defendants desired to and did elect to extend it. They did not desire to exercise this privilege, and so notified the plaintiff; and the new lease was for so brief a period that-it was unnecessary to commit it to writing.
Considerable complaint is made of the rulings of the court in the admission of testimony; but we find no such errors as
The deposition of one of the defendants had been taken in advance of the trial, and after this party had testified at the trial, the plaintiff read a portion of the deposition which he had given, with a view of contradicting him, and inquired of him if he had so testified. The defendants then, over the objections of the plaintiff, read additional portions of the deposition which related to the same subject; and of this he now complains. It would be manifest injustice to introduce a portion of the testimony of a witness on any subject, without allowing the introduction of all that was said by the witness on that subject. The court committed no error in admitting the other answers or statements of the witness concerning the same transaction.
The ruling of the court on the giving and refusal of instructions is a subject of complaint; but we find no prejudicial error, and think that the charge given fairly presented the case to the jury. The findings of the jury appear to be sufficiently definite, and these answer some of the numerous objections urged against the rulings on the testimony. The real, and in fact about the only, question in the case is one of fact, as to whether a second contract was made, and upon this there is a sharp conflict in the testimony; but the verdict of the jury settles that conflict in favor of the defendants, and we find no sufficient ground for disturbing the verdict.
The judgment will be affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.