State Savings Bank v. Thompson
State Savings Bank v. Thompson
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The appellee brought this action in the
district court of Sedgwick county to recover on a promissory note for $1600 executed by appellant L. W.
Thompson answered, in substance, that the note sued upon by appellee was without consideration; that he was not indebted thereon.
The Streator Motor Car Company interpleaded and alleged that on March 7, 1910, it consigned to Thompson an automobile of the value of $1951.12; that the car was to remain the property of the interpleader until sold, and when sold the money was to be forwarded to the company; that Thompson sold the car and received the money therefor and deposited it in the garnisheed bank in his own name; that the money so deposited was the money garnisheed and is the property of the interpleader.
A jury was impaneled to try the case. After the evidence was introduced, a motion was filed by the appellee for an instruction to the jury to bring a verdict for the plaintiff against the interpleader. The motion was sustained, verdict was returned in accordance with the instruction, and judgment was rendered that the money on deposit in the Fourth National Bank in the name of Thompson at the time the garnishee summons was served was the property of
The evidence showed without dispute that' the Streator Motor Car Company consigned an automobile to Thompson; that the automobile was to remain the property of the Motor Car Company until sold; that Thompson received.the car at Wichita; that Thompson sold the car to Alfred Miller for $2200 and received in payment therefor one check for $1525 and one for $675, both dated March 12, 1910, and payable to Thompson.
Thompson testified that he received the two checks from Miller, aggregating $2200, and put them in the Fourth National Bank for collection; that at the time the garnishment summons was served, April 28, 1910, the amount of his deposit was in the neighborhood of $2000, and that all of it was derived from the sale of the automobile to Miller.
On the other hand, there was evidence tending to show that the $1525 check, received by Thompson as proceeds of the sale of the automobile, had not been deposited in the Fourth National Bank; that the $675 check had been so deposited, but that after such sale and the deposit of the $675 check the account of Thompson in the bank had at times been increased and at times decreased, so much that at one time his account was overdrawn. It is contended that this shows that the proceeds of the sale of the automobile had been entirely dissipated before the garnishee summons was served; that, hence, the money found to Thompson’s credit at the time of the service of the garnishee summons could not have been the proceeds of the sale of the automobile but was derived from some other source.
This contention does not follow as a proposition of law, but at most presents an issue of fact. Neither
In the latter case it was said: “The trustee having admittedly in his hands at least this amount of the trust estate, which has never since been otherwise accounted for or identified, and having deposited the amount in the account which did contain the trust funds, it must, in the absence of proof that they did not arise from other sources, be presumed that they were either originally trust funds, or funds substituted by the trustee for trust funds taken” (p. 538), and “even where deposits in the trustee account are proved to have been made with the depositor’s personal funds, but the deposits were made to replace or restore trust funds for which he was accountable, the deposits become trust funds, by way of substitution, and the beneficiaries are entitled to hold them.” (p. 546.)
(See, also, Baker et al. v. New York Nat’l Ex. Bk., 100 N. Y. 31, 2 N. E. 452.)
There was an issue of fact upon which there was conflicting evidence as to whether the proceeds of the sale of the automobile had been deposited in the bank. The court erred in directing a verdict without submitting the facts to the jury with proper instructions, and also in rendering the judgment thereon.
The judgment is reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The State Savings Bank v. L. W. Thompson, The Streator Motor Car Company, Interpleader, and The Fourth National Bank, Garnishee
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS BY THE COURT. 1. Sales — By Agent—Proceeds of Sale Belong to Principal. Where a principal delivers personal property to an agent to sell on commission the proceeds of the sale belong to the principal, subject to the lien of the agent for his commission and other proper charges, and the principal may follow and reclaim the proceeds so long as the identity is not lost. 2. -Same. Under the facts of this case the right of the principal was not affected if it be the fact that, the agent used the specific proceeds of the sale and deposited other moneys to make up the amount so used, no superior right having attached thereto before the deposit; such deposit, if substituted for the original proceeds, became impressed with the trust and subject to the same equities.