Nathenson v. Crossland
Nathenson v. Crossland
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This is an action of trespass for the recovery of damages for the alleged unlawful sale of a horse by the defendant, a constable. The court below referred' the testimony to' the jury and a verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff for the value of the horse. We think it may now be safely assumed that the jury substantially found the following facts: That on and prior to January 3, 1910, one H. Savitz, was the owner of a bay horse called "Jim” and a cheap harness worth about $2.00, and on that date he sold and delivered said horse and harness to the plaintiff, Nathenson, and received therefor $80.00 in cash; that on the same day the latter took the horse and harness into his actual possession and removed them from the premises of the vendor and kept them in his own stable at a different place for several days. Plaintiff then arranged, with Savitz to furnish a wagon and take the said horse and harness and carry on a huckstering business with goods to be furnished by the plaintiff, the horse to be fed out of the gross receipts of the business and the net profits thereof to be divided equally between plaintiff and Savitz. This arrangement was in force for about two and one-half months, during which period the horse was kept usually in Savitz’s stable, he making frequent trips -with the horse and wagon to plaintiff’s place of
Appellant’s learned counsel filed eleven assignments of error and he has ably argued the case under the following propositions: “1. Under the facts the sale was fraudulent in law and the court should have directed a verdict for the defendant. 2. If it be conceded that the case was for the jury, the instructions' of the court in regard to the necessity of a transfer of possession by the vendor to the vendee to make a good title were inadequate. 3. The evidence did not show facts warranting the jury to return a verdict for punitive damages.” The counsel say, “this is a case of detained possession, which is a fraud in law, and. the court should have so instructed the jury and directed a verdict for the defendant.”
The first three assignments of error are aimed at the refusal of the court to hold that the sale of the horse by Savitz to plaintiff was a legal fraud because the plaintiff permitted the horse to go back into the possession of the vendor under the arrangement to which we have above alluded. Appellant’s, counsel cites Clow and another v. Woods, 5 S. & R. 275; Dewart et al. v. Clement, 48 Pa. 413; McKibben v. Martin, 64 Pa. 352; Evans v. Scott,
On the authority of Keystone Watch Case Co. v. Fourth Street National Bank, 194 Pa. 535; Huffman v. McIlvaine, 13 Pa. Superior Ct. 108; Renninger v. Spatz, 128 Pa. 524; Cessna v. Nimick et al., 113 Pa. 70; White v. Gunn, 205 Pa. 229; Riggs v. Bair, 213 Pa. 402, and many other cases we think the question of whether or not the plaintiff was the owner of the horse when the defendant levied upon it and sold it was for the jury and that it was fairly and properly submitted to that body, and the court did not err in refusing to hold that the sale of the horse was a fraud in law.
In Keystone Watch Case Co. v. Fourth St. Natl. Bank, 194 Pa. 535, the Supreme Court, speaking through the late Mr. Justice' Dean, said: "In the eighty years that have elapsed since the decision of Clow v. Woods,
In our own case of Huffman v. McIlvaine, 13 Pa. Superior Ct. 108, speaking through our Brother W. D. Porter, we said: “The rule laid down in Clow v. Woods, is not so incapable of accommodation to modern conditions as is sometimes asserted. In his opinion in that case Mr. Justice Gibson clearly recognized the necessity of considering the relation of the parties and the character of the property and the uses for which it was intended, in determining what was or what was not a sufficient delivery of possession to be valid, as against the creditors of the vendor.”
We think these two cases, and many others in harmony therewith, furnish a key to the solution of the legal question involved in the present case. In it there is not a particle of testimony tending to impeach the honesty of the huckstering arrangement entered into between the plaintiff and Savitz at the time the former permitted the horse to be taken away from his stables
It does not seem probable, under the evidence and the verdict, that the jury found that any material misrepresentations were made by either Savitz or the plaintiff, as to the ownership of the horse, while it was being used by Savitz in the huckstering business. Nor is it made to appear by the evidence that Savitz was or was not indebted at the time he sold the horse, except to one creditor whom he paid. Nor does it appear when the debt represented by the constable’s execution was contracted. We regard these points as worthy of some consideration in the disposition of this case: McGuire v. James, 143 Pa. 521.
It is probable that these men found it to their mutual advantage for the one to furnish his wagon and his time and the other to furnish the goods and the horse and harness for the purpose of carrying on the huckstering business. Without such an arrangement probably these parties could not have engaged in this business and we think the case comes within the rule indicated by the two authorities from which we have above quoted.
It seems to us that the question of the plaintiff’s title to the horse and harness was a mixed one of law and fact as in Bell v. McCloskey, 155 Pa. 319. It is urged, however, that if the case had to go to the jury the charge was inadequate. But the court pointedly told the jury that the first and most vital consideration was, “who was the owner of the horse on the 23d of April, 1910, when it was levied upon?” There were really no facts in dispute regarding the question of how the horse was permitted to go back into the possession of Savitz. The testimony of the plaintiff and his witnesses on this point was uncontradicted. Whether the admitted facts regarding possession defeated the plaintiff’s title as against creditors was largely a question of law. It is evident that the court below was of opinion that if the sale and possession were as alleged by plaintiff, and was
The sixth, seventh and eighth assignments complain of certain instructions given to the jury by the learned trial judge. A careful examination of the testimony, the charge of the court and the able argument of appellant’s counsel leaves us unconvinced that these assignments raise reversible error and they are not sustained. The ninth, tenth and eleventh assignments attack the instructions of the trial judge on the question of punitive damages. First, we think there was sufficient testimony in the case to warrant the judge in referring the matter of punitive damages to the jury: Pittsburg, etc., Ry. Co. v. Lyon, 123 Pa. 140; Schusler v. Clark, 50 Pa. Superior Ct. 459. Second, in addition to this we are not convinced that the jury allowed the plaintiff any punitive damages. There was testimony that the horse was, at the time the defendant sold it, worth $150, while the verdict was only for $125, with some interest added for the lapse of time between the trespass and the rendering of the verdict. The horse was sold to plaintiff for $80.00 cash, but there is evidence that it was in better condition and worth more at the time the constable
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.