Bricker v. Whisler

117 N.E. 550, 65 Ind. App. 492, 1917 Ind. App. LEXIS 155
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 1, 1917
DocketNo. 9,322
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 117 N.E. 550 (Bricker v. Whisler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bricker v. Whisler, 117 N.E. 550, 65 Ind. App. 492, 1917 Ind. App. LEXIS 155 (Ind. Ct. App. 1917).

Opinion

Hottel, C. J.

This is an appeal from a judgment for $100, rendered against appellant by the Marion Circuit Court in an action brought by appellee before a justice of the peace of Hancock county, to recover damages for the alleged conversion of certain stone, bricks and building materials located on real estate in Hancock county, Indiana. The overruling of his motion for new trial is the only error assigned by appellant and relied on for reversal. The motion contains four grounds, but appellant in his brief asks this court to give its consideration to but one question, viz.:. “May a grantor of real estate under a general warranty deed containing no reservation, by parol, reserve a building which was originally constructed as a permanent accession to the realty, and which is still annexed thereto in substantially the same manner as when originally built?”

It is claimed by appellant that this question is presented by those grounds of his motion for new trial which respectively challenge the verdict as not being sustained by sufficient evidence and as being contrary to law, that the law requires a negative answer to said question, and that such an answer will necessitate a reversal of the judgment below. As we gather appellee’s contention from his briefs, he, in effect, concedes the correctness of the legal proposition for which appellant contends, and that it requires a negative answer to the question suggested, but insists that there was undisputed evidence showing that at least a part of the prop[495]*495erty, claimed by appellee to have been- appropriated by appellant, was personal property, and that there was some evidence from which the trial court might properly have inferred that all of said property was personal property; that for this reason said law question is not presented by the record, and that, there being no other question presented by appellant, the judgment below must be affirmed.

The evidence pertinent, and necessary, to a correct understanding of the questions thus presented is to the following effect: In 1908 appellee bought certain lots from one Forkner. Subsequently, and about two years before his sale and conveyance to appellant, he bought from one Cook what remained of a glass factory on these lots. Cook had bought this building, apart from the lots, and had removed parts of it. In October, 1912, appellee owned said lots and building. At that time the building had been so wrecked that only part of the frame thereof, the ground floor of fire brick laid in sand, part of a second floor of wood, and a stone foundation for a part of the second floor, and some stone piers for furnaces remained. The siding, roof, part of a second floor, the doors and windows and their frames had been removed. Part of the frame had been removed, or had fallen, and was on the ground. The greater part of the frame, however, was standing. Appellee testified that this frame was made up of 2x4, 2x8, and 4x4 timbers nailed together. The stone foundation for a part of the building remained practically intact, except that a few stones had fallen therefrom and were on the ground. There were several stone piers which had supported furnaces. These furnaces had been removed, and the piers were more or less broken down, and stones had fallen from them. Some of the witnesses testified that the building rested on sills of large timbers, that there were walls for these sills, and that [496]*496there were stone pillars set in the ground, the stones of which had been laid in mortar, and upon these pillars the posts of the building were placed. These facts were, however, denied by other witnesses, who testified that there was no foundation, but just posts set in the ground. It is uncontroverted, however, that the parts of the building then standing were fastened together and attached to the soil in the same manner, and were in the same condition as when originally erected. It also appears from the record that the structure was then practically in the same condition as when appellee bought it from Cook. There is evidence tending to show that the building had been erected about twelve years before the sale to appellant, that it had been abandoned as a factory about three years before such sale, and that Cook had removed parts of the building about two years before such sale. On October 16, 1912, appellee conveyed said land to appellant, by warranty deed, containing no mention of this structure, either by way of reservation or otherwise. Appellee, however, testified that he orally reserved all the materials on the premises, including all the frame of the building, except a part thereof eight feet by thirty feet, which contained 500 feet of lumber, that the part of the frame so reserved contained 5,000 feet of lumber, that the part not reserved was joined to that reserved by nails “and 2x8 stuff on top for floor.” Appellant testified and introduced other evidence to the fact that there was no reservation of anything by appellee. The evidence showing the taking of the property claimed to have been reserved is- to the effect that appellant hauled away stone, and that he was seen “hauling this material away.” The record does not show specifically that any material, other than the frame standing at the time of the sale to appellant, and the stone foundation above referred to, was removed. The evidence on this point [497]*497refers generally to stone and to “material.” All the evidence as to the value of material related generally to the material, there being no evidence of value as to any material separated from the building and lying on the ground, as distinct and separate from that remaining attached to the real estate.

1. The decision and judgment being for appellee, he has every presumption in his favor, and in determining whether said decision is sustained by sufficient evidence we must look alone to that most favorable to him. We think it clearly appears from the evidence that, while there may have been some brick and material which had been separated from said building, lying on the ground, there was no attempt on the part of appellee to prove the quantity or value of such material, separate and independent of that part of the building which remained attached to the real estate.

2. 3. While this court will search the record to affirm, and indulge every presumption in favor of the action of the trial court to avoid reversal, it cannot indulge presumptions wholly unsupported by the evidence. The burden was upon appellee to prove his case by proper evidence, and it clearly appears from the evidence upon the subject of values that the only theory upon which he made his case, and the only theory upon which the decision and judgment of the trial court could have been predicated, under the evidence, was that appellee was entitled to recover not only for that part of the material involved that was lying on the ground, separated from the .real estate, but also for that part of the same which was attached to the real estate, and, because of the absence of any evidence as to the quantity or value of the material on the ground, separate from that attached to the real estate, there, was no evidence upon [498]*498which a judgment for appellee in any amount for such separated material alone could rest. It follows, we think, that a correct disposition of this appeal requires us to determine the question suggested by appellant.

4.

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

Related

Hall v. Woody
1937 OK 251 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1937)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
117 N.E. 550, 65 Ind. App. 492, 1917 Ind. App. LEXIS 155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bricker-v-whisler-indctapp-1917.