Johnson v. Costigan
Johnson v. Costigan
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiffs are wholesale grocers. They recovered a judgment against defendant for groceries which they claim were sold to her. It is the claim of defendant that she formed a partnership with her husband under the name of T. L. Costigan & Co., and that the goods were sold to the firm, and that, as under the Michigan decisions she could not engage in a partnership with her husband, she is not liable. The record discloses that the defendant in this case was the defendant in Sherrod v. Costigan, 111 Mich. 644, and the business involved in this transaction is the same business which was the subject of controversy in that case. The defendant submitted two special questions to the jury: First. Were Mr. Costig'an and defendant doing business as partners in September, 1894, and thereafter ? Second. Did Mrs. Costigan, the defendant, authorize Mr. Costigan to purchase goods of plaintiffs, and. have them charged to her alone? The first of these questions was answered “No,” and the last one “Yes.”
I#is claimed by the defendant that the jury included in their verdict a sum of money loaned to the husband of the defendant to enable him to pay his saloon license. These items do appear in the bill of particulars, but the husband testified they had been paid, and we do not think it can be said these amounts were included in the verdict.
Some witnesses were sworn on the part of defendant who testified they had dealt with the firm of T. L. Costigan & Go. ■ In his charge the judge used this language:
“ I will say to the jury that; if they were doing business with other people, they had a right nevertheless to make this contract with Johnson & Wheeler, as the plaintiffs claim, and, if they made it, they are bound by it; if she made it, she is bound by it.”
It is claimed this is error. The language is not clear, and, standing alone, might mislead the jury; but the court, in another portion of his charge, told the jury very clearly and explicitly that, if these goods were sold to Costigan & Co., plaintiffs could not recover. They were also told that, unless the contract related to the separate estate of
Some question is made as to the admission of evidence. We are not satisfied from an examination of the record that reversible error was committed.
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.