Stansbury v. Storer
Stansbury v. Storer
Opinion of the Court
The defendants in error as plaintiffs sued the plaintiff in error as defendant in the district court for Nuckolls county upon two causes of action. Plaintiffs alleged that they had entered into a contract with the defendant whereby the plaintiffs, as builders, were to furnish mate
By instruction No. 8 the court charged the jury, in substance, that the measure of plaintiffs’ damages on account of the materials furnished and work done was the loss of profits which they would have made in carrying out the contract, that is, $1,158 agreed compensation less the amount it would have cost them to furnish the labor and
The court, gave instruction No.' 3, requested by the plaintiffs, which contained the following: “The jury are further instructed that, in case you find from the evidence that the plaintiffs and defendant entered into the contract for the construction of the building referred to, and that the defendant prevented the plaintiffs from performing the same without fault on the plaintiffs’ part, the plaintiffs are entitled to recover, under their first cause of action, the value of the labor and materials used and appropriated by the defendant as measured by the contract price, as you shall find the same from the evidence.” The defendant overlooks the first few lines of this instruction, and complains of that part beginning: “Plaintiffs are entitled to recover,” claiming that in substance the court said to the jury: “That there is a contract; that there is an agreed contract price; that the plaintiffs herein appropriated materials and labor.” This contention, if we understand it, is wholly without merit.
Similar objections are made to instructions Nos. 4 and 5, relative to the items subject to recovery and the date of the contract; such instructions to govern in the event that the jury found that the contract was in fact made. An instruction given by the trial court, or a part thereof, should not be isolated from other instructions or other parts of the same instruction, but all should be read
Defendant contends that the court erred in overruling a demurrer to the. petition, claiming that there is a mis-joinder of causes of action, and that the petition does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. Plaintiffs failed to allege the time within which the contract was to he performed.' The omission of such an allegation did not render the petition demurrable. The two causes of action were connected with the same subject matter, and therefore the petition was not subject to demurrer for misjoinder.
After the issues had been formed and the case ready for trial, the defendant filed a motion for leave to amend his answer by alleging that in January, 1900, and while the injunction suit above referred to was pending, and while there was also pending another suit between the same parties relating to an entirely different matter, the parties hereto settled their differences. The court overruled this motion. The settlement which defendant sought to plead by the proposed amendment was made in January, 1900, almost five years before the amendment was offered.. There was no abuse of discretion in the refusal of the trial court to permit the amendment to be made.
To defeat the second cause of action, the defendant relied upon the fact that a supersedeas had been had of a judgment entered nunc pro tunc, dismissing the injunction suit in which the bond sued on had been given. No competent evidence was introduced showing that the proper bond had been filed. Defendant now contends that, as the petition failed to allege the termination of the injunction suit, evidence that the judgment therein had been superseded was not required. An examination of the pleadings discloses that the facts relative to the injunction suit were made an issue by the answer and reply. Possibly, however, the burden was upon the plaintiffs to show that their second cause of action had accrued. It is unneces
There being no error in the record, we recommend that the judgment of the district court be affirmed.
By the Court: For the reasons stated in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of the district court is
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- William Stansbury v. M. S. Storer
- Status
- Published