Aultman & Taylor MacHinery Co. v. Fuss

1922 OK 169, 207 P. 308, 86 Okla. 168, 1922 Okla. LEXIS 136
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 16, 1922
Docket10674
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 1922 OK 169 (Aultman & Taylor MacHinery Co. v. Fuss) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aultman & Taylor MacHinery Co. v. Fuss, 1922 OK 169, 207 P. 308, 86 Okla. 168, 1922 Okla. LEXIS 136 (Okla. 1922).

Opinion

MeNEILL, J.

This action was commenced in the district court of Grant county by J. H. Fuss, administrator of the estate of B. E. Smith, against the Aultman & Taylor Machinery Company to recover damages for alienation of certain property belonging to the estate of B. E. Smith prior to the appointment of the administrator. The petition alleged that B. E. Smith died on the 14th day of April, 1917, and was the owner of a threshing machine of the value of $2,000; that on the 8th day of May, 1917, and prior to the appointment of an administrator of the estate of deceased, the defendant, through its authorized agent, took possession of and converted to its own use and alienated the threshing machine and delivered possession to J. T. Smith. It is alleged that the threshing machine was of the value of $2,000, and judgment is prayed for in the sum of $4,000. To this petition the defendant filed a demurrer, which was overruled by the court.

Thereafter the defendant filed an answer and cross-petition. The answer admitted that Smith died as alleged in the petition, that he was the owner of the property described in the petition, and alleged, further, that the property was not of the value to exceed $1,-500, and at the time of the death of the deceased the defendant held a chattel mortgage on the same of more than $1,-700; and further alleged that it felt itself insecure and found the property in control of J. T. Smith, a brother of deceased, and made a contract whereby Smith executed his note and chattel mortgage on the property as collateral security for the indebtedness of B. E. Smith. A copy of the agreement made with J. T. Smith was attached to the answer. The defendant for cross-petition alleged that B. E. Smith was indebted to the defendant on two promissory notes secured by chattel mortgage on the threshing machine, the total amount of said notes being approximately $1,900, and asked to have the mortgage foreclosed. The case was tried to a jury, and the verdict returned in favor of plaintiff and against .the defendant for $1,558.60. Judgment was rendered on the verdict, and from said judgment the defendant has appealed.

For reversal the defendant presents numerous assignments of error. It is first contended the court erred in overruling the demurrer to the petition for the reason the pe-tición failed to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action because the petition failed to allege the administrator had made a demand for possession of the property prior to bringing of suit. The plaintiff in error has waived this question, because it did not appeal within six months from the date of the order overruling the demur, rer, nor did it incorporate as error the overruling of the demurrer in its motion • for new trial. If this error had been presented in the motion for new trial, the same could be considered at this time. See Brooks v. Watkins Medical Go., 81 Okla. 82, 196 Pac. 956. This was not done, and the error cannot now be considered.

It is next contended there is no evidence to support the verdict or judgment of the court, because the evidence is insufficient to support a finding that the plaintiff in error had alienated or embezzled the property. The plaintiff in error contends the words “embezzle or alienate,” as used in *170 section 6324, Rev. Laws 1910, mean the fraudulent taking or passing the possession of property, and musfi be so steeped in fraud as to place the property beyond the reach of the administrator, and thereby cause the same to be lost to the estate. The Supreme Court of California, in defining embezzlement and alienation as used in the statute of that state, which is almost identical with our statute, in the ease of Jahns v. Nolting, 29 Cal. 508, stated as follows:

“To embezzle, as the term is employed in section one hundred and sixteen, is to fraudulently appropriate to one’s own use, or conceal the effects of the estate which such person has in his possession; and to alienate, signifies to wrongfully -transfer such property to another. Such embezzlement or alienation is a wrongful conversion of the property, for which an action of trover was maintainable at common law. An action of the nature of an action of trover may be brought by the administrator, without the aid of section one hundred and sixteen, against any person who has embezzled or alienated the personal property of the estate, prior to the grant of administration; and that section dors not give a new right of action, nor create a remedy where one did not previously exist, but it merely increases the measure of damages, in case the tortious conversion has been committed at a particular time when the property is peculiarly exposed to loss — that is, the time intermediate the death of the deceased and the issuing of the letters of administration.”

The above case has been followed and cited by courts of different states in several opinions, and correctly defines the term “alienation,” and we know of no case holding to the contrary. A party who wrongfully takes possession of the property of a decedent after his death and prior to the time of the appointment of administrator, cannot pass title even if he does alienate the same. If he alienates the same and transfers the possession to a third party, this is all he; can do-, and it amounts to wrongful conversion and alienation of the property. Section 6324, Rev. Laws 1910, as held in the case of Jahns v. Nolting, supra, increases the amount of damages for such ' wrongful conversión.

The evidence in this case disclosed about ’he following facts:

Smith, prior to the time of his death, had eft o threshing machine close to Pond Creek on the farm of a party by the name if Adams. J. T. Smith, the brother of de-■edent, wrote the defendant 'in error regarding toe machine. The agent of the olaintiff in error came to Grant county and '.ntered into a written agreement with Smith. The agreement recites that J. T. Smith assumed the indebtedness of B. E. Smith, deceased, which indebtedness was evidenced by certain promissory notes, and J. T. Smith agreed to give his notes, which were to bei held as collateral, and also a chattel mortgage to secure said collateral notes, the chattel mortgage on the threshing machine, which is the property claimed to be alienated. It also contains the following recital:

“The party of the second part, (being J. T. -Smith) accepts the machine wherei it stands and as it stands without any warranty of any nature on the same.”

The agreement provides that the agreement shall not he binding until accepted by the company. The agent for the company, Mr. Bass, testified, in substance, that he dealt with J. T. Smith -because be (J. T. Smith) wanted to take over the outfit and pay for it. So he turned it over to him, drew up the agreement and turned it over to him as far as the part of the company was concerned, and he turned it over to him by virtue of the agreement, and took a mortgage fro-m J. T. Smith on the threshing machine to secure the indebtedness. Smith testified that he assumed the indebtedness o-f the company and a-fter making the agreement he took possession of the property according to the company’s instructions: that he took possession -by virtue o-f the agreement with the company and had possession- of the machine since said time and had been using the machine, and in fact at the time -of the trial had paid the company a part of the notes executed by him.

The evidence further diclosed that B. E.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Simons v. Brashears Transfer and Storage
1959 OK 156 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1959)
Regional Agricultural Credit Corp. v. Chapman
129 F.2d 435 (Ninth Circuit, 1942)
City of Altus v. Tinsley
95 P.2d 589 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1939)
Dunham v. Chemical Bank & Trust Co.
1937 OK 457 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1937)
Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Matthesen
1935 OK 435 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Graf Packing Co. v. Pelphrey
1935 OK 352 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Sauls v. Whitman
1935 OK 247 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Pine v. Nowlin
1931 OK 717 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1931)
Empire Gas & Fuel Co. v. Powell
1931 OK 365 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1931)
Cooper v. Boyce
1929 OK 270 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1929)
Liberty Life Ins. Co. v. Green
1928 OK 601 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1928)
Deal v. Deal
1928 OK 466 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1928)
Anderson v. O'Dell
1928 OK 410 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1928)
McGrath v. Rorem
1926 OK 991 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1926)
Shaffer Oil & Ref. Co. v. Thomas
1926 OK 941 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1926)
Nichols & Shepard Co. v. Dunnington
1926 OK 526 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1926)
Sharum v. Sharum
1926 OK 504 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1926)
Hodgson v. Hatfield
1925 OK 511 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1925)
Roberts v. Sims
1924 OK 959 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)
Charles v. Prentice
1923 OK 12 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1923)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1922 OK 169, 207 P. 308, 86 Okla. 168, 1922 Okla. LEXIS 136, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aultman-taylor-machinery-co-v-fuss-okla-1922.