Higley v. Doege
Higley v. Doege
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The action in the district court was to recover the sum of $700 alleged to be due as the purchase price of a player piano sold and delivered to the defendant.
The petition alleged that the defendant agreed to pay $700 for the instrument. The plaintiff testified that the agreement was that the defendant was to pay her $350 in cash when the player piano was delivered, and the plaintiff was to take the defendant’s second-hand piano for the other $350. There was some conflict in the testimony, the defendant testifying that the piano was not purchased outright, but that she agreed to pay $350 and give her old piano in exchange for the new one if her daughter was satisfied with the new one, and that it was to remain in her house long enough for the daughter to make
We think the instructions were erroneous in view of the facts admitted by the plaintiff, and that justice and equity will best be subserved by a modification of the judgment. It seems that the defendant offered to return the new piano to the plaintiff, and upon plaintiff’s refusal to accept it, stored it subject to plaintiff’s order, and that it is now in the hands of a storage company. There is no reason why the plaintiff should not be entitled to recover the $350 with interest thereon from the date of the sale, and she should also be entitled to the possession and ownership of the second-hand piano, or its value at the time the agreement was entered into in case it can not now be delivered to her.
The judgment will therefore be modified and the cause remanded for further proceedings in accordance with these views.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.