Heiszler v. Beddow
Heiszler v. Beddow
Opinion of the Court
This action, when stripped of all confusing details, is an action for the conversion of the sum of $1,025, alleged by the plaintiff, Nettie Heiszler, to have been paid by her to one W. E. Beddow, deceased (the administratrix of whose estate is made a party defendant herein), for the purpose of being applied towards the payment of a certain mortgage note. The answer is in effect a general denial. The court instructed the jury that “the only issue to be decided is as. to whether the plaintiff, when she paid the said sum of $1,025 to the deceased, directed that it should be applied to the payment of said note,” and that “the verdict of the jury must be for the full amount sued for, or for nothing.” He also instructed the jury that “all evidence in this case relative to whether or noit there was a lease between the plaintiff and her then husband, and this defendant, and all the evidence of financial transactions by the plaintiff with other persons, has been received solely for the purpose of aiding you in determining the relationship of the parties in a business way to each other, the credibility of the parties, and as bearing upon whether the plaintiff, at the time of the payment of said money, directed the application thereof to be made by the defendant upon the note and mortgage aforesaid.” A verdict and judgment was returned and entered for the plaintiff for the full amount, and defendant appeals.
In appellant’s abstract, and in the form of an exception to one of the instructions of the court, there is a claim by defendant’s counsel “that at least the sum of $140 has been paid on the note, inasmuch as certain testimony is in the case relative to the authorization by the defendant of the payment of that amount by the bank of Caledonia,” and in an
There can be no question that under the plea of a general denial, the plaintiff may be put to strict proof of the allegations of his complaint, and that under such plea the defendant may show that the contract sued upon did not exist, or that the money in controversy was paid and received under a different contract. Anderson Mercantile Co. v. Anderson, 22 N. D. 441. If, therefore, competent evidence was offered tending to show that the $1,025 paid to the deceased was not paid to him to apply upon said note, but was merely a payment of money derived as his share of crops raised upon the lands leased by him, such evidence would have been admissible. It would have been admissible, however, not for the purpose of establishing a counterclaim, but for the purpose of showing that the contract sued upon did not, in fact, exist, or that the money claimed to have been converted was not paid to the defendant for the purpose claimed. Anderson Mercantile Co. v. Anderson, 22 N. D. 441. Under a general denial, however, a counterclaim cannot be proved. The court, therefore, did not err in instructing the jury that the only issue before them was as to whether the $1,025 was directed to be paid upon the note, and that their verdict must be for the full amount sued upon or- for nothing. Defendants asked for no specific instructions. They
Reference
- Full Case Name
- HEISZLER v. BEDDOW
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- Published