McDonald v. Stafford
McDonald v. Stafford
Opinion of the Court
This suit was brought by ap-pellee against appellant in the justice court, precinct No. 1, Coleman county, Tex., alleging that he purchased a certain mare from appellant, and pai<j $100 therefor, and that appellant warranted and guaranteed the animal to be sound and safe, and alleging a. breach of such warranty. The suit was for rescission, it being averred that the sale was made September 1, 1917, and tender of the animal back to appellant made about November 5, 1917. The amount sued for was $175, *733 which.included the purchase price and the expense of feed, care, and attention to the mare during such period.
Appellant prosecuted an appeal to the county court from a judgment against him, and his pleadings consisted of a general denial and special denial that he guaranteed or warranted the mare to he sound, or agreed to refund the money, as alleged by appellee, and he denied that the animal was unsound,: and averred that such claim was waived by appellee’s having retained and used the animal for a long time after discovery jf the defects.
The case was submitted to a jury on special issues, the questions and answers being as follows:
“(1) Did the defendant, H. J. McDonald, at the time he sold the mare in question to the plaintiff, T. L. Stafford, warrant that said mare was sound? Answer: Yes.
“(2) Was said mare unsound at the time plaintiff purchased her? Answer: Yes.
“If your answer to question No. 2 is No, then you will not answer question No. 3; if it is Yes, then you will answer:
“(3) Did the plaintiff T. L. Stafford, return said mare to the defendant, H. J. McDonald, within a reasonable time after he ascertained such unsoundness, if any? Answer: Yes.”
Appellee requested the ■■, urt, in the 'event the jury should answer qut, ¿on No. 2 of the main charge Yes. to s'ubnuí the following question:
“Did the plaintiff within a reasonable time after discovering s,uch ansoundness, if any, offer to return the mare in question to thq defendant and request a return of the money he paid?”
The request was granted, and the question answered in the affirmative by the jury.
At tile request of plaintiff, the court also made a special finding to the effect that ap-pellee had expended the sum of $81 for 'care and keep of the animal, which was a reasonable sum and a proper expenditure, and should be included in the judgment.
The findings of the jury and the court are supported by evidence.
Opinion.
The first assignment of error complains at the refusal of the trial court to submit special issue No. 1 requested by appellant, which related to a conversation between the parties at the time the check was given by aibpellee, and which, in effect, purported to submit the issue that appellee had accepted the animal without any warranty of soundness. As a part of this requested instruction, appellant asked the court to.instruct the ! jury as follows:
, “The burden of proof is upon the plaintiff to prove by a preponderance of. the evidence the above special issue No. 1.”
We can see no error in the admission of this testimony, which was the basis of the court’s finding referred to in the statement of the case. It was not necessary to show the market price of either the feed or the services. The testimony of the witness was, in effect, that it was necessary for him to expend the sum of $81 for feed and attention to the animal, and that such sum was a reasonable charge, and this meets the rule in such cases. Therefore the assignments relating to this question are overruled.
*734 Assuming, but not deciding, that this testimony and argument were improper, we do not think there was reversible error. It related to a matter not really a disputed issue, and was not reasonably calculated to influence the jury in answering the questions Submitted.
The trial court had the correct view of the law, as announced by our decisions. A party seeking to rescind such a contract must act with promptness and within a reasonable time. What is a- reasonable time is a question of fact to be determined by,, the jury from the circumstances. Aultman v. York, 71 Tex. 263, 9 S. W. 127; Crutcher v. Schick, 10 Tex. Civ. App. 676, 32 S. W. 76. There is no merit in any of these assignments.
Finaly appellant complains of the findings of the jury, and the judgment because unsupported by the evidence, especially in that there is no evidence to show a warranty or the fact of unsoundness of the animal at the time of the sale, nor any return as soon as the defects were discovered or within a reasonable time. '
We have considered all the assignments, and, finding no reversible error, the judgment is affirmed. ,
Affirmed.
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