Staley v. John B. Thomas & Son
Staley v. John B. Thomas & Son
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The appellant instituted an action in the Circuit Court for Frederick County against the appellees; the plaintiff claiming damages for the alleged infraction of a parol contract. In his declaration the plaintiff avers that the defendants, who constituted a firm for the sale of real estate, had entered into a verbal agreement with him in relation to the purchase of a farm belonging to one Shields, and located in said county. By the .terms of this agreement the price to he paid for the property was $2,140; and in consideration of the payment by the plaintiff of $200 in cash, and $800 on the first of April next ensuing, the defendants were to loan the residue of the purchase money on a mortgage on said farm. The plaintiff further avers in his declaration that he paid the $200, in accordance with the stipulation in said agreement, and was ready and willing to pay $800 on the first of April, but that the defendants declined to furnish the money on mortgage in conformity with the obligations imposed on them by the terms of said parol contract.
The verdict and judgment were for the defendant and there are six bills of exception in this record. The first exception is founded on the rejection of evidence in relation to the payment of the sum of $800 mentioned in the declaration. The averment is that this sum was to he
The plaintiff offered to prove that at no time did the •defendants make any objection to the non-payment in cash of the sum of $800 by the plaintiff. The Court refused to admit this testimony and this ruling forms the foundation for the second bill of exception. It is manifest that the fact that the defendants made no objection, did not exempt the plaintiff from the obligation to pay on the day designated in the contract. In order to relieve himself from such obligation it was necessary to prove that the defendants consented and agreed that the payment should be postponed to a later period. An inference deducted from the taciturnity of the defendants did not supply the requisite proof. The Court was right in rejecting the testimony. And the same observations apply to the fourth bill of exception. The plaintiff offered to prove by Shields that he, Shields, had agreed to accept a bill of sale for $800 instead of a payment in cash. How this agreement could affect the legal rights of the defendants it is difficult to' perceive. The Court very properly ruled that the •evidence was inadmissible.
The third exception is founded on the refusal of the ■Court to allow the plaintiff to offer testimony tending to
The sixth exception was to the ruling of the Court in-refusing to allow an amendment after the jury had been instructed to find for the defendant. This was an exercise of the discretionary power of the Court and from it-no appeal could be taken. As was said in Calvert vs. Carter, 18 Md., 108, “ no appeal will lie from the action of the Court on an application to amend.”
The Court granted a prayer offered by the defendants, and on the ruling of the Court in granting this prayer is-founded the fifth bill of exception. The jury were instructed that the verdict should be for the defendants, because there was no legally sufficient evidence from which they could find that the plaintiff was ready and offered to-pay the sum of $800, as alleged in the declaration. In other words, the jury were told that the averment was not supported by any pertinent proof. No error was committed in granting this instruction.
The judgment of the Court below should be affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Cornelius Staley v. John B. Thomas & Son
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published