Louis P. Croce, Inc. v. Jack
Louis P. Croce, Inc. v. Jack
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff instituted this suit on July 17th, 1930, to recover on certain promissory notes given by defendant on account of the purchase price of certain restaurant fixtures- covered by a conditional bill of sale, title to which was to remain in plaintiff until paid for. Defendant admittedly has not paid the notes, alleging in the answer filed that there was a failure of consideration in that plaintiff did not install the kind of fixtures called for by the agreement and otherwise breached it to his damage which he makes the subject of a counter-claim. On March 10th, 1931, plaintiff caused a writ of replevin to be issued out of the Common Pleas Court of the county, under which it repossessed the chattels in question. In the suit thereon, defendant filed no answer and allowed the judgment for possession to go by default, although the basis of the action was failure to pay the notes in the present suit, which under the terms of the sales agreement gave plaintiff the right to take possession, if it so elected.
Plaintiff now moves to strike the answer and counter-claim of defendant in the present suit on the ground that he failed to litigate the notes in the subsequent replevin suit, and is now estopped because the latter suit disposed of the issue here involved and has therefore become res adjudicata. This does not appear to be so, however. How the latter suit could affect the pending action instituted long prior is not made clear. Plaintiff retained title to the chattels under the agree
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.