Smith v. Ott
Smith v. Ott
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
In this action the plaintiff recovered damages for the destruction of his growing corn by the cattle of the defendants, and from the judgment the defendants appeal.
Thé lands of plaintiff and defendants were situated on the
The principal contention at the trial was whether the cattle entered the corn through the north or south parts of the partition fence. The finding of the jury settled that contention in favor of plaintiff. Defendants insist that the finding is not supported by the testimony, but there appears to be enough to uphold the finding and verdict.
“If any person liable to contribute to the erection of a partition fence shall neglect or refuse to make and maintain his portion of such fence, or shall permit the same to be out of repair, he shall not be allowed to have and maintain any action for damages incurred, but shall be liable to pay to the party injured all such damages as shall accrue to his lands and the crops, fruit trees and shrubbery thereon, and fixtures connécted with the said land, such damage to be assessed by the fence viewers, on application of the party injured, one day’s notice in writing having been first given to the party liable, either by delivering to him personally or by copy left at his usual place of abode, that such application for assessment of damages had been made, and the time when the fence viewers would attend to make such assessment.” (Gen. Stat. 1915, § 4806.)
' This provision does not imply that a party who injures another can escape responsibility for the injury because the other may not have kept his own fence up, to the legal standard. It means no more than that if one person fails to maintain and keep his fence in repair and injury results to himself by reason of the defective fence he can recover no damages that may be done by the stock of others, but that he shall be liable to others for all damages resulting to them from his defective fence.
There is nothing substantial in the complaint of a statement by the court that testimony to the effect that the defendants’ cattle were bunched together the day before they broke into the plaintiff’s premises was not material. It does not appear to have been material and could not have been prejudicial.
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.