Montillet v. Shiff
Montillet v. Shiff
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court. This is a suit brought by the depositor against the depositee, or stock holder of $1000 which he alleges were placed in the hands the latter, without stating for what purpose;, but claims a right to recover back the amount. The answer of the defendant admits the. deposit, states the cause of it, being a wager, he-tween the plaintiffand one Hamlet, depending
The defendant obtained judgment, in the court below, from which the plaintiff appealed The appellant, by his counsel contends, that according to the terms of the wager (which was reduced to writing,) it has not been decided; and from accidents, not within the control of either of the parties, never can be determined; and that consequently the aleatory contract has become null and void, or, in wagering language, it stands as a drawn bet, and each party has a right to withdraw his stake. The correctness of these propositions, on the part of the plaintiff, depends much on the true meaning of the last stipulation in the contract If it must be so construed, as to shew clearly the intention of the parties was, not to submit to any other calculation of the amount of votes, which each candidate obtained from the peer
In the present ease, the parties made then bet on the number of votes, which should la-given to the two candidates thropght the whole extent of the state, according to the official re. turns. But official returns were not made-from ail the election districts, and therefore the bet was not and could not be determined, unless we suffer the latter part of the clause of the contract so to control the first, as to render it null and of no effect, and subject the bet to be
But from the whole contract between the parties to the present suit, in relation to their bet, it is clearly seen that they did not choose to subject its decision to the same accidents, in the official returns, which must have exhibited either one or other of the candidates to the legislature, as having the greatest number of votes. Their wager has not yet been, determined, and the stockholder has paid it over in error. W hether it may yet be decided is questionable; but it is a question not required to be settled in the present case. Before concluding it is however proper for us to state, that the plaintiff is not in the situation of a loser, who has voluntarily paid, on the contrary, the money has been delivered to the supposed winner, by the stakeholder, contrary to the will and intention of the appellant; consequently the appel-lee cannot with any propriety or justice invoke
It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed that the judgment of the parish court be avoided, reversed and annulled; and it is further ordered, adjudged and decreed, that the plaintiff and appellant do recover from the defendant and appellee, one thousand dollars, with interest at the rate of 5 percent, per an-num from the judicial demand,and costs in both courts.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MONTILLET v. SHIFF
- Status
- Published