Conliff v. Hall

1956 OK 341, 305 P.2d 1041, 1956 Okla. LEXIS 664
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 26, 1956
Docket37220
StatusPublished

This text of 1956 OK 341 (Conliff v. Hall) 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
Conliff v. Hall, 1956 OK 341, 305 P.2d 1041, 1956 Okla. LEXIS 664 (Okla. 1956).

Opinion

CORN, Justice.

The plaintiff, Mary Hall, sued the defendant, Robert A. Conliff, Jr., alleging in her first amended petition, in part:'

“That the defendant, Robert A. Con-liff, Jr., and this plaintiff, on the 26th day of October, 1952, made and entered into an oral contract to marry, and said defendant then and there promised and agreed to marry plaintiff on or before the 1st day of January, 1953, at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in consideration of plaintiff then and there agreeing and promising to marry the defendant.
“Said plaintiff, confiding and relying on said promise of the defendant, has been ever since said date herein-above first set out, ready and willing, and is now ready and willing, to marry said defendant; but that said defendant, though often requested to perform and fulfill his contract to marry, has neglected, failed and refused to marry plaintiff. -
♦ * * * * *
“That by reason of the neglect of the defendant, his failure and refusal to live up .to his contract the plaintiff has been damaged in the sum . of Twelve Hundred Ninety ($1290.00) Dollars for loss of her furniture, One Hundred Three & 10/100 ($103.10) Dollars for fare to Oklahoma City, Six Hundred Forty-Eight ($648.00) Dollars for loss of salary up to and including the month of January, 1953, the sum of One Thousand ($1,000.00) Dollars for medical and hospital expenses incurred and to be incurred in the future; the sum of Fifteen Thousand ($15,000.00) Dollars for pain and suffering caused by the illness caused by the defendant, and the sum of Twenty-five Thousand ($25,000.00) Dollars as punitive damages, for all of which she prays judgment against the defendant in‘ the total amottnt of Forty-three Thousand Forty-one & 10/100 ($43,-041.10) Dollars, and for costs and other proper relief.”

The answer of the defendant was a general denial. The case was tried to a jury, and it returned the following verdict:

“We, the jury, empaneled and sworn in the above entitled cause, do, upon our oaths, find for the plaintiff, and fix the amount of her recovery at $1,393.10 actual damages; and $1.00 punitive damages.”

For reversal of the judgment the defendant presents the following assignments of error:

“1. The court erred in overruling the motion to make more definite and -certain and the motion to strike.
“2. The court erred in overruling the demurrer of the defendant.
“3. The court erred in admitting certain incompetent and prejudicial evidence.
“4. The court erred in’ failing to declare a mistrial on account of misconduct of counsel.
*1043 “5. The court -erred in overruling ■■ the motion of the defendant for an in- '- structed verdict.”

In the motion to make more definite and certain the defendant states:

“Comes now the defendant, Robert A. Conliff, Jr., and moves the Court'to require the plaintiff to make • her' amended petition more' definite and certain by stating where the contract was entered into; that is,- in what State the same was consummated, whether in the State of Oklahoma or in the State of Georgia.
“This defendant further moves the Court to require the plaintiff to set out what furnishings or property she sold, to who whom sold, and the date thereof.
“This defendant further moves the Court to require the plaintiff to set out and make more definite and certain what act or acts, and in what manner or way such act or acts, caused the plaintiff to become ill and causéd her to run a high temperature, as alleged on páge two of said amended petition; 'and in what way the acts of the defendant caused the plaintiff to become progressively ill, lose weight, become nervous and tense, and in what manner or way the defendant aggravated her previous illness; and to attach to the petition, or itemize, the medical and hospital bills and the dates incurred, as mentioned or set out on the last page of the said amended petition; and to itemize the' $1,000.00 medical and hospital bill incurred as mentioned in the. last paragraph of the said amended petition.”

The only item of damage submitted to the jury was $1,290 loss on her furniture; $103.10 transportation and punitive damages. So that leaves the objections to make more definite and certain going only to the furniture.

It would, perhaps, have been-better practice if the trial court had required the plaintiff to amend the petition.- by interlineation or otherwise so as to conform to the motion. However, the record reflects that the defendant had, shortly before the date of the sale, - visited in plaintiff’s home several times, and saw the furniture and when questioned about it on trial, testified as follows:

“Q. Did you know, that at Atlanta, Georgia, she had sold what furniture she had? A. Yes.
“Q. And did you know what furniture she had? A. 'Yes, I knew what, furniture she had.
“Q.-' Very nice furniture, was it? A. Very nice.
“Q. Her apartment was very nicely furnished, was it? A. Very nicély furnished.”.

-Plaintiff stated in-her-petition that defendant requested her to immediately sell and dispose of or give away her furnishings in. order that she could pome to the defendant immediately. Where' a defendant is charged with notice of what he is required to defend against, it is not an abuse of discretion to' overrule his motion to make more definite and certain. Plaintiff, in her petition, stated her household furnishings were valued at $1,500 and that she sold them for $210. By these allegations defendant knew he had to defend against the difference in value and what plaintiff received for the furniture. -

In Griffin Grocery Co. v. Scroggins, 145 Okl. 9, 293 P. 235, we held in syllabus 1:

“A motion to make petition more-definite and certain is addressed to the sound discretion of the court, and a ruling thereon, in the’ absence of an abuse of such discretion that results prejudi-dally to the party complaining, will not be disturbed.”

We are inclined to the view that the trial court did not err in overruling said'motion as no prejudice is shown in the record.

The next assignment • of error by the defendant is that the trial court erred in overruling his demurrer to the petition. We' *1044 have examined the amended petition with care and have set forth herein the part of the petition his general demurrer attacked, and while it may not be a model petition, we believe, under the rules to be applied in passing on such a demurrer, the trial court did not err in overruling the same.

Objections raised in assignment of error, No. 3, goes almost solely to the items of damages alleged in the petitions that were not submitted to the jury.

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Related

Waddell v. Wallace
1911 OK 484 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1911)
Griffin Grocery Co. v. Scroggins
1930 OK 53 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1930)

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Bluebook (online)
1956 OK 341, 305 P.2d 1041, 1956 Okla. LEXIS 664, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/conliff-v-hall-okla-1956.