Moore v. Wilson
Moore v. Wilson
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
In 1907 the governor of Kansas issued a proclamation, upon the notification of the state live stock sanitary commissioner, and in accordance with
On October 9, 1908, Moore brought an action against Wilson and Baker, on account of their conduct in regard to his cattle, in which he placed his damages at $500. By an amendment made in February, 1909, he increased his estimate to $1600, itemized as follows: Attorneys’ fees, $300; slander of herd, $500; extra care to herd, $100; loss of cattle and depreciation, $400; punitive damages, $300. A trial resulted in a verdict and judgment for the defendants, which was reversed on appeal, this court holding, contrary to the view of the trial court, that Wilson was not a deputy live stock commissioner, because the statute made no provision for such a deputyship. (Moore v. Wilson, 84 Kan. 745, 115 Pac. 548.) Later the plaintiff amended his petition, increasing his claim to $17,020. At a second trial a verdict was returned in his favor for $610, the jury finding that he was entitled to recover $20 for attorneys’ fees in the injunction suit, and $590 for attorneys’ fees in the present litigation. The court gave judgment for $20, and the plaintiff appeals.
One of the specific charges made against Baker in the petition was that he refused to give the plaintiff a certificate of health for the cattle, as he was required by law to do. The plaintiff complains of an instruction to the effect that no damages could be recovered on account of a refusal to give such a certificate, unless it had been demanded. This seems entirely reasonable, but the question need not be determined, for a reason which will be presently stated. Complaint is also made that the instructions were misleading because they stated at considerable length the powers of the- live stock commissioner to do certain things in a certain way, when there was no evidence whatever that the
The part of the verdict which was based upon the liability incurred by the plaintiff for attorneys’ fees in this litigation was rightly eliminated. (Evans v. Insurance Co., 87 Kan. 641, 125 Pac. 86.) The .plaintiff contends that the jury would have allowed punitive damages if they had known that they could not allow attorneys’ fees. This may be true. But we can not reverse the judgment at the instance of the plaintiff
Complaint is made of • an instruction that punitive damages could not be recovered against Baker. ' Under the evidence there was perhaps room to submit- this question to the jury. But if error was committed in this regard it was manifestly nonprejudicial. The jury allowed no punitive damages against Wilson, although they had full opportunity to do so. And their finding that the circumstances did not call for an assessment of such damages against him necessarily implied that none were warranted against Baker, the gravamen of the charge against whom was that he gave countenance to the wrongful conduct of Wilson. Moreover, the trial judge would evidently not have affirmed a verdict charging Baker, with punitive damages, and without his approval it could not have stood. Nor can we think that justice could be subserved by remanding the cause for trial upon the issue of Baker’s liability for punitive damages.
The plaintiff contends that the special findings are inconsistent with each other. One instance is this: the jury found that Wilson told prospective buyers of the cattle in November that he would not allow them to be shipped if sold, and also returned a negative answer to the question,. “Was plaintiff compelled to keep his herd of cattle over winter because of the wrongful acts of defendants?” Wilson’s threat tended to discourage buyers, but it would not unavoidably prevent a sale, and no necessary inconsistency in these answers is apparent. The jury were also asked, if they answered the question just quoted in the affirmative, to state whether such wrongful acts were malicious-and oppressive. They answered in the negative. No answer was required by the form of the question, and the jury seemingly meant merely to repeat their negation of the theory that the plaintiff had been compelled t’o
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.