Stanfield v. Arnwine
Stanfield v. Arnwine
Opinion of the Court
There are a great many assignments of error, but we need not consider more than two of them, since all of the remainder are substantially involved therein.
“That defendant failed and refused and still fails and refuses to deliver said sheep called for by said contract, or any part of same. ’ ’
Defendant interprets this averment to mean that no lambs whatever were tendered for delivery. It is equally susceptible, however, of the meaning, that while defendant did offer certain lambs for delivery,
“There has been a $5,000 payment made to the defendant in this case. The plaintiff sues to recover this $5,000 and also to recover damages for the alleged breach of the contract on the defendant’s part. The rule of the law governing your conclusion in reference to this $5,000 will differ somewhat from the rule of law governing damages. It is the law, Gentlemen, that where one party under a contract of sale has made a payment down on the purchase price, that he may not recover that $5,000 back if he has wholly abandoned, repudiated, refused, or failed to carry out his contract, but he is entitled to recover the $5,000 unless he has wholly failed, refused, and abandoned his contract. Even though, in this case, you should find that the sheep were of the quality required by this contract and that Stanfield, or Stanfield’s agent, through an error of judgment turned these sheep down, and failed to accept them, plaintiff would still be entitled to recover, unless you find that he wholly failed and refused to comply with his contract, and abandonee! the same. Even though there was an error in judgment on the part of Stanfield, or his agent, in refusing to accept these sheep, if his agent, in good faith, believed that he was right and turned the sheep down, and did not wholly abandon or refuse to carry out his contract, for any other reason than an error of judgment, he would still be entitled to recover the $5,000.”
“The mere refusal to pass cattle which in fact complied with the contract, if done in good faith, would not of itself amount to such a repudiation, and would not justify the defendant in rescinding the contract,*387 although it might render plaintiff liable in damages for a breach thereof.”
In an action like the one before us, the questions presented are: Has there been a breach of the contract? If so, by whom? And which party is entitled to recover? In such an action, the plaintiff is liable upon defendant’s counterclaim, if, in truth, defendant has complied with the terms of the agreement, even though plaintiff honestly rejected the lambs as falling below its demands. The instructions were therefore not pertinent to the issues. For this there must be a reversal.
"We do not pass upon the question as to whether or' not the allegations of the complaint are sufficient when measured by the doctrine announced in Barnard v. Houser, 68 Or. 240 (137 Pac. 227), since upon a retrial the plaintiff will have an opportunity to amend his complaint, and thereby avoid any unnecessary doubt.
The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial. Reversed and Remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STANFIELD v. ARNWINE
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