International Dairy Queen, Inc. v. Hill
International Dairy Queen, Inc. v. Hill
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff, International Dairy Queen, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Dairy Queen) filed a suit in trespass and conversion against defendants, William Hill, George Highley and Edwin Kalemjian, alleging that they converted certain equipment belonging to the plaintiff to their own use. The case proceeded before a judge and jury to a trial wherein the plaintiff presented its evidence. Following the presentation of the plaintiff’s evidence and upon a motion by the defendants, the trial court granted a nonsuit as to defendants Highley and Kalemjian. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and against defendant Hill. After the trial, the plaintiff filed motions with the lower court to take off the compulsory nonsuit entered against defendants Highley and Kalemjian. Those motions were denied and plaintiff has appealed to this Court.
Briefly stated, the facts are as follows. Defendant Highley was a one-third owner of a tract of land located in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The other owner was a Ms. Willits who held the remaining
The equipment was installed on the premises by the appellant pursuant to the sales agreement. The equipment
In Penn v. Isaly Dairy Co., 413 Pa. 548 at 550, 198 A.2d 322 at 323 (1964), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stated:
A nonsuit should be entered only in a clear case, and on appeal from the refusal to take off a compulsory nonsuit, the plaintiff must be given the benefit of all favorable testimony and every reasonable inference of fact arising therefrom and all conflicts therein must be resolved in favor of plaintiff. Schwartz v. Urban Redev. Auth., 411 Pa. 530, 192 A.2d 371 (1963); Miller v. McMinn’s Industries, Inc., 410 Pa. 234, 188 A.2d 738 (1963).
Therefore, we must review the record to discern whether or not there was a question which should have been submitted to the jury. There was no contention that the equipment originally purchased by Hill was not placed on the premises. Furthermore, the equipment was on the premises at the time the agreement for sale of the premises was entered into and executed between Highley and Kalemjian. When Mr. Kalemjian’s son, who was also a purchaser of the premises along with his father, was confronted by Dairy Queen and asked to pay for the equipment on the premises he stated that he was not going to pay for something he had already paid for. This was also the sentiments of the appellee, Kalemjian who was of the opinion that they had purchased the premises from Highley “lock, stock and bar
Salmond defines conversion as an act of willful interference with a chattel, done without lawful justification, by which any person entitled thereto is deprived of use and possession. Salmond, Torts (10th ed. 1945) at 286. Prosser describes the following ways in which a conversion can be committed: “(a) Acquiring possession of the goods, with an intent to assert a right to them which is in fact adverse to that of the owner, (b) Transferring the goods in a manner which deprives the owner of control, (c) Unreasonably withholding possession from one who has the right to it. (d) Seriously damaging or misusing the chattel in defiance of the owner’s rights.” Prosser, Torts, § 15 (2d ed. 1955).
There can be little doubt that both appellees intended to exercise dominion over the equipment at one point in time or another. However, there is a question as to rightful ownership. Appellant contends that the document purporting to be a waiver and signed by Highley was improperly excluded from evidence. It is also appellant’s contention that this document was relevant to the issue of rightful ownership. One of the reasons for its exclusion was that certain important parts of it were left incomplete. The deposition of Mr. Highley taken by the appellant was offered into evidence for the purpose of authenticating the waiver document and establishing the intent of appellee Highley when he signed the document. However, the lower court would not allow the deposition to be introduced. The Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure specifically provide for the use of depositions at trial.
(a) At the trial, any part or all of the deposition, so far as admissible under the rules of evidence, may be used against any party who was present or represented at the taking of the deposition or who had notice thereof if*366 required, in accordance with any of the following provisions: (2) The deposition of a party or of any one who at the time of taking the deposition was an officer, director, or managing agent of a party may be used by an adverse party for any purpose. Pa.R.C.P. 4020.
At the time Highley signed the waiver, he was well aware of the intentions of Hill to purchase the equipment from the appellant and that the purpose of the waiver was to exclude that equipment from being considered realty once it was affixed to the land. Therefore the deposition would have had significant relevance to this issue of rightful ownership.
A review of the record in the light most favorable to the plaintiff indicates that the granting of the appellees’ motion for a nonsuit was not warranted in this case. The order of the lower court is reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial with respect to appellees Highley and Kalemjian.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.