Kehoe v. Phillipi
Kehoe v. Phillipi
Opinion of the Court
This action originated before a justice of the peace, and was there prosecuted to a judgment in the names of the plaintiff and M. A. Kehoe, his wife. The defendant appealed the case to the circuit court. The statement filed before the justice was in the form of an account. In the account the defendant was charged with the use of a forge for several months, and the value of certain tools, pulleys, belts, oil, etc. In the circuit court a jury was waived, and the case submitted to the court. At the close of the evidence the plaintiffs dismissed the action as to the wife. The court rendered judgment in favor of the husband for the value of the personal property mentioned in the account, and the defendant again appealed. No instructions were asked or given, and no exceptions were saved to the admission or rejection of evidence.
If we understand the appellant’s brief correctly, the only question that is seriously pressed in this court is that the cause ought to have been dismissed, because it was made to appear by the evidence that the subject-matter of the suit grew out of. and pertained to, an unsettled partnership between the plaintiff and the
The defendant also complains of the court’s action in permitting the withdrawal of M. A. Kehoe as a coplaintiff. How the defendant was prejudiced by this, we cannot see. The evidence tended to show that the forge mentioned in the account belonged to the wife, and the property alleged to have been converted belonged to the husband. Under this state of the proof an amendment of some kind became necessary. The wife saw fit to dismiss the action so far as she was concerned, and the recovery was limited to property owned by the husband. Of this the defendant has no right to complain. The question, whether the husband was erroneously added as a coplaintiff in the first instance, is not presented by any proper assignment of error.
There was no material variance between the statement and the proof. This identical question has been passed on by the supreme court in the case of Allen v. McMonagle, 77 Mo. 478. In that case the statement filed before the justice was in the following form: “John McMonagle, debtor to S. W. Allen. To nine head of sheep, twenty-five dollars.” The evidence showed á conversion of the sheep. It was held that there was no variance, and that the statement was sufficient.
We find no error in the record. Th.e judgment oE the circuit court will, therefore, be affirmed. All the judges concurring, it is so ordered.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.