Beattie Manufacturing Co. v. Gerardi

65 S.W. 1035, 166 Mo. 142, 1901 Mo. LEXIS 319
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedDecember 17, 1901
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 65 S.W. 1035 (Beattie Manufacturing Co. v. Gerardi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beattie Manufacturing Co. v. Gerardi, 65 S.W. 1035, 166 Mo. 142, 1901 Mo. LEXIS 319 (Mo. 1901).

Opinion

BURGESS, J.

This is an appeal by plaintiff from the judgment of the court below in sustaining a demurrer of the defendant, Clark, to the second amended petition of the plaintiff.

The facts are stated by defendants substantially as follows:

On November 18, 1893, plaintiff instituted a suit in the circuit court of the city of St. Louis, against the defendants herein, to enforce a mechanic’s lien against the identical property described in the petition in this case, which suit was pending at the time of the institution of this suit. On January 19, 1895, the same plaintiff instituted another suit against the same defendants, involving the identical property described in the petition in the mechanic’s lien case.

In the petition, in the second suit, was alleged the incorporation of plaintiff; that on March 2, 1890, it entered into a contract with defendants Gerardi and wife, to make certain alterations and additions to a building described, of which the defendant, Charles Clark, was the owner, who had leased the same to Gerardi and wife for a period of ten years from February 24, 1893; that the plaintiff complied with its contract in all respects, and on or about June 16, 1893, the possession of the building and the work and material placed there by plaintiff was delivered to Annie Gerardi, and that a balance of $12,313.17, subject to an unsettled account, claimed by Mrs. Gerardi by way of damages for not completing the work by May 1, 1893, was due and owing plaintiff; that a copy of the mechanic’s lien heretofore sued upon is [148]*148made part of'the petition. The petition then alleges the institution and pendency of the mechanic’s lien suit as above set forth; that after the institution of said mechanic’s lien suit and after the defendants had filed answers thereto, on or about January 12, 1894, Gerardi and wife executed and delivered a deed to the estate, upon which the mechanic’s lien was claimed, and also conveying any and all interest which said Gerardi and wife had in and to any fixtures, trade or improvements constructed or built upon or in said premises by Gerardi and wife, which the petition alleges included all the fixtures of every kind and description as well as the material furnished and placed in said building by plaintiff and described .in the account embraced in the mechanic’s lien aforesaid, the possession of all of which were delivered by Gerardi and wife to Clark. The petition then alleges: . “And the defendant, Charles Clark, has appropriated to his own use and benefit all of said material and fixtures of every kind, and has particularly converted to his own use and benefit the fixtures and materials described in the following account which plaintiff charges him with, to-wit:” Then follows an exact duplicate of the account which was the basis of the mechanic’s lien. It is then alleged that Clark used the improvements and fixtures, with others used by him for the purpose of fitting the building as a gentlemen’s furnishing store; that the materials and fixtures furnished by plaintiff were for the purpose of fitting the building for carrying on a restaurant and saloon. That Clark’s purpose in taking the conveyance from Gerardi and wife “was to obtain the exclusive possession and control of said premises and the material and fixtures aforesaid in order to defeat the claim of plaintiff and thereby obtain the property aforesaid on which plaintiff had filed a mechanic’s lien, and to charge, direct and convert said material and fixtures for his entire use and benefit, and to cheat and defraud plaintiff out of his debt.” All of which was done without plaintiff’s consent, and to evade and destroy plaintiff’s mechanic’s lien. That the [149]*149deed was executed by Gerardi and wife with tbe understanding and in consideration 'that Clark would have them released from the debt of plaintiff. It was further alleged that Clark, in 1894, leased said premises and fixtures to Eobert Beekley, in consideration of a monthly rental, “and also pay the debt of plaintiff;” that Beekley took possession and accepted the premises and fixtures for a term of months, for which he paid Clark $2,800, and defendant Clark leased said premises for a term of years without plaintiff’s consent; that Gerardi and wife are insolvent; that Gerardi and wife contracted with plaintiff for said material and fixtures with the knowledge and consent of Clark; that the various sums of money paid plaintiff upon said account were paid by Clark under an arrangement made with Annie Gerardi. The prayer of the petition is that plaintiff recover from Clark the full amount of its debt, and to that end this cause be consolidated with the mechanic’s lien suit and that the same be then tried and considered together, and that the said defendant Clark be adjudged and ordered to pay plaintiff the sum due it, $12,313.71, with interest, etc.

On February 8, 1898, plaintiff by consent of all the parties filed an amended petition. In the first count is alleged the relation of the parties, the making of this contract between plaintiff and Gerardi and wife, and its performance substantially as stated in the original petition. It also alleged that Annie Gerardi entered into an agreement in writing, by which Mrs. Gerardi paid to Clark $10,000, and said Clark was to add thereto the sum of $2,400, making $12,400, which Clark agreed to pay to the party or parties who would furnish the material and conduct the improvements contemplated, and that thereupon plaintiff entered into the contract with Mrs. Gerardi, “in pursuance of the contract in writing that Charles Clark was to pay the sum of twelve thousand four hundred dollars to the parties who would do the work;” that plaintiff performed the conditions on its part; that Clark paid $6,500 to plaintiff; that the plaintiff on June 16, 1893, delivered the [150]*150possession of the premises, which were accepted by the defendants, and having failed to pay the balance due, plaintiff, on November 17, 1893, filed a lien against the building and real estate to secure the balance due, and on November 18, 1893, filed a suit to enforce such lien against the defendants, and that on May 18, 1896, a decree was rendered in favor of plaintiff establishing the lien aforesaid against Annie Gerardi, upon which execution issued, and the property aforesaid, together with the leasehold, was sold for the sum of $75, and the said judgment remains unsatisfied; that the defendant Clark has failed to pay said sum of $13,400, less the amount of credits aforesaid, and prays judgment against Clark for the balance due.

The second count alleges the same contract for the materials and fixtures, the execution of the lease, the agreement of Charles Clark with Mrs. Gerardi to pay $12,400 to the persons who should furnish the material and fixtures, the performance of plaintiff’s contract, the payment by Clark of $7,500, the institution of the suit to enforce a mechanic’s lien, the rendition of judgment therein against Mrs. Gerardi and execution thereon, and the sale of the property for $75; the conveyance by Gerardi and wife of the property to Clark, and the delivery of possession thereunder to Clark, including the materials and fixtures, which Clark has appropriated to his own use; that he sold $3,000 worth thereof and totally destroyed the premises for use as a restaurant and saloon, and leased the same for a gentlemen’s furnishing store in consequence of which the rental value of the property was deduced and the leasehold interest rendered useless, and prays judgment for $10,000 damages.

To this petition a demurrer was filed and overruled.

The defendant, Clark, then filed a general denial.

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Bluebook (online)
65 S.W. 1035, 166 Mo. 142, 1901 Mo. LEXIS 319, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beattie-manufacturing-co-v-gerardi-mo-1901.