Forgard v. Barthold
Forgard v. Barthold
Opinion of the Court
This is an action brought to recover on an oral contract. In February of 1920, plaintiff and defendant entered into an agreement whereby plaintiff was to feed and care for 90 odd head of cattle belonging to defendant. In return for his services, defendant agreed to pay plaintiff the sum of $30ri, from which sum the wages of a hired man were to be deducted. Defendant was to pay for all of the hay and corn used in feeding the cattle, and made an advance payment on the hay of $200. In March of the same year, there was a severe blizzard, lasting from Sunday until Tuesday, and during this blizzard some 45 head of the cattle perished. The balance of the cattle were returned to defendant the latter part of April, and in May or June, the exact
Appellant’s brief presents 40 assignments of error, but they have been grouped so as to bring all of appellant’s contentions under three distinct heads:
(1) Assignments Nos. 38-40: That the court erred in directing a verdict. (2) Assignments 1-31, 33, 34, 35, 37; That the court erred in its rulings on evidence. (3) Assignments 32, 36: That the court erred in rejecting offers of proof.
We think that there were sufficient' facts in dispute in this case to take it to the jury, and that the trial court did err in di
The amount of hay and corn fed to appellant’s cattle and the value of same were all questions of fact which should have been submitted to' the jury. With the exception of the $300 agreed by both parties as the sum to be allowed for respondent’s services, the amount involved in this action depended entirely upon the amount of hay and corn fed to the cattle and the value of .same. The judgment allowed .in this case was for the sum of $794.50, the amount which appellant alleges respondent claimed was due him at the time they talked of a settlement. In his complaint, respondent alleges the amount of $857.40 upon an “account stated.” We are therefore at a loss to know upon what basis the judgment was figured. In his testimony appellant admits that he does not himself know how much was paid to the hired man. The discrepancy in the two amounts is not explained. The question of whether or not there was an “account stated” was a question of fact for the jury to determine.
It is the opinion of this court that there was not an “account stated.” Osborne & Co. v. Stringham, 1 S. D. 413, 47 N. W. 410:
“To make an account stated, there must be a mutual agreement between the parties as to the allowance or disallowance of their respective claims, and to establish such an account so as to preclude a party from impeaching it, save for fraud or mistake, there must be proof of assent to the account as rendered, either express or implied. Two facts are necessary to make one debtor and creditor: There must be a mutual agreement between them as to the allowance and disallowance of their respective claims, and as to the balance struck upon the final adjustment of the whole account and demand of both sides. Their minds must meet as in making other agreements, and they must both assent to the account and the balance as correct.”
Respondent’s counsel moved for a directed verdict on the ground that the undisputed evidence shows that the respondent was entitled to recover the sum of $794.5.0, abandoning entirely the prior claim of $857.50, with no explanation whatever for doing so; that there was no evidence introduced by defendant
Consolidated Land & Irrigation Co. v. Hawley, Sheriff, 7 S. D. 229, 63 N. W. 904:
“If, upon any material question of fact, the evidence is such that the jury might reasonably have found for the plaintiff, it is error for the court to direct a verdict for the defendant,” and vice versa.
The facts presented in this record, as we view it, made a case upon which the jury might have found for the defendant, and it was error for a verdict to be directed for plaintiff.
The judgment is reversed, and the case remanded for a new trial.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- FORGARD v. BARTHOLD
- Status
- Published