Towne v. Liedle
Towne v. Liedle
Opinion of the Court
This is an action for the recovery of specific personal property. It is alleged in the complaint: “That defendants, on or about the 23d day of April, in the year 1895, in the county of McPherson, took and wrongfully detain from plaintiff the following articles of personal property belonging to plaintiff, of the value of seventy-nine dollars, namely: One white cow, 6 years old; one black steer, 2 years old; one red and white steer, 2 years old; one gra,y heifer, 2 years old — -in which said plaintiff claims the property and right to immediate possession. That on said 23d day of April, 1895, plaintiff demanded the return of said property, but his demand was refused.” Upon the trial the court properly overruled defendant’s objection to the introduction of any evidence, on the ground that the complaint does not state facts sufficient to con
In the light of all the facts presented by the abstract, it would be unreasonable to infer that the justice’s court acquired jurisdiction to determine that Towne had disposed of his property, and was about to remove from the state, for the purpose of defrauding creditors. Certainly, in the absence of its record, we are bound to presume that it did not show authority for the unusual recitals contained in the execution, and must hold that the court did not err in ruling as it did upon the introduction of the docket and execution.
At the close of the evidence plaintiff moved the court to direct a verdict for the return of the property, or its value, the jury to fix the value, against defendant Liedle. He moved the court to direct a verdict in his own favor, which was denied, and the court charged the jury as follows: “Your verdict will be for the plaintiff against the defendant Liedle for such sum as you find to be a reasonable value for those cattle at the time they were taken.” Thereupon plaintiff was given leave to amend his complaint by inserting in the prayer for judgment the words, “or the value thereof, in case a return cannot be had,” and the jury returned the following verdict: “We, the jury, find for the plaintiff and against the defendant Liedle, and assess his damages at §78.00.” It is clear from the manner in which the action was submitted that the jury found the value of the property to be §78. The form of the verdict ig
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- Syllabus
- 1. Complaint to recover specific personal property, alleging- that defendants took and wrongfully detain from plaintiff specified articles of personal property belonging to plaintiff, of a certain value, in which plaintiff claims the property, and right to immediate possession, and that plaintiff demanded the return of the property, states facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. 2. In support of a judgment, the abstract not purporting to contain all the evidence, it will be presumed plaintiff properly claimed bis exemptions. 3. In support of rulings of the circuit court on introduction of docket and execution of a justice of the peace, it will be presumed, in the absence of the record of the justice court, that it did not show authority for the unusual recitals in the execution. 4. Where action is to recover specific personal property, or the value thereof if return cannot be had, and the court directs verdict for plaintiff for such sum as the jury find to be a reasonable value of the property, a verdict finding for plaintiff, and assessing his “damages” at a certain sum, will, in the absence of objection therto, support a proper judgment.