Cottonwood Count Bank v. Case

125 N.W. 298, 25 S.D. 77, 1910 S.D. LEXIS 44
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 23, 1910
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 125 N.W. 298 (Cottonwood Count Bank v. Case) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cottonwood Count Bank v. Case, 125 N.W. 298, 25 S.D. 77, 1910 S.D. LEXIS 44 (S.D. 1910).

Opinion

SMITH, J.

This action was brought in the circuit court of Clark county for the purpose of having a warranty deed declared and foreclosed as a mortgage. It is alleged in the complaint that at the time of the delivery of said deed it was intended as security for money then and thereafter to be advanced by the plaintiff bank to the defendant Wesley Case; that in pursuance of 'said agreement the plaintiff loaned to the defendant Case the sum of $2,300 on February 21, 1902, and the sum of $1,200 on April 15, 1902. Plaintiff alleges that it advanced to defendant under said agreement between the 15th day of April, 1903, and the beginning of the action, various other sums aggregating $714.91, for all of which the said deed was to stand as security, and prays that the said deed be foreclosed as a mortgage. The pleadings are exceedingly voluminous, and it seems to us that no useful purpose would be served by an attempt to recapitulate the allegation's of the complaint and answer. The answer contains a general denial, except as to matters specifically admitted."

The only portions of the pleadings in any manner material to the question raised on this appeal are certain allegations in the answer charging fraudulent conduct on the part of the plaintiff [79]*79bank, which allegations were expressly withdrawn by defendant’s counsel at the opening of the trial. Counsel for defendant Aupperlee then stated to the court as follows: “I will say at this time to the court that in drawing these pleadings I never had met Mr. Aupperlee until after they were drawn, and I understand that the bank was claimed to have received this -money as a trust fund. That was an error, and we do not claim that. We claim, however, that the -bank knew that it was trust funds. We do not claim that they were trustees as to the Minnesota lands.” The case appears to have been tried by the court upon the theory that the defendant had entirely withdrawn the allegation of fraudulent conduct on the part of the plaintif, and no findings of fact were made touching these allegations. The plaintiff, who is appellant here, assigns as error the failure of the trial court to make findings of fact and conclusions of law upon these, allegations of fraud. But, inasmuch as the claim of fraudulent conduct of plaintiff appears to have been entirely abandoned by the defendant, both at the beginning of the trial and throughout the introduction of the evidence, we do not think the failure of the court to make such findings is error of which the plaintiff can complain; and, as this is the only assignment which in any manner relates to the pleadings, no further attention need be paid to them.

The findings of fact and conclusions of law are as follows:

“(i) That in the fall of 1900 an agreement was made by and between the defendant John A. Aupperlee and the defendant Wesley Case, whereby the defendant John A. Aupperlee was to place in the hands of the defendant Wesley Case the sum of seven thousand dollars ($7,000), to be used by defendant Wesley Case in purchasing land in Minnesota, taking deeds therefor in his own name as trustee, the said John A. Aupperlee to be the beneficiary of said trust, but not to be named as such 'in said deed of said land, said land to be afterwards sold by said Wesley Case, as such trustee, and the proceeds thereof divided, said Wesley Case to receive two-ninths and said John A. Aupperlee to' receive seven-ninths of such proceeds.
"‘(2) That pursuant to said- agreement, and in said fall of 1900, said John A. Aupperlee did place in the hands of and [80]*80furnish to said AVesley Case the sum of seven thousand dollars ($7,000) for the purpose of purchasing said Minnesota lands.
“(3) That after receiving said sum of seven thousand dollars ($7,000), and prior to the times hereinafter mentioned, the said AVesley Case did, pursuant to said agreement,- purchase with said seven thousand dollars ($7,000) certain- lands in Minnesota, taking -deeds therefor to himself therein described as ‘AVesley Case Trustee/ or ‘AVesley Case, Trustee/ in some of the deeds the comma being insterted' between ‘AVesley Case/ and ‘Trustee/ and in others not, and, after taking said lands and prior to the times hereinafter mentioned, said- AVesley Case sold a part of said lands to customers found and procured by said John A. Aupperlee, and received the money paid therefor to be by him, the said Case, paid over to persons from whom the said Case had purchased the said Minnesota lands as part payment of the balance of purchase price thereof remaining unpaid, but that the said Case never so applied said money last above described.
“(4) That on January 20, 1902, the said AVesley Case sold all of said Minnesota lands, except the part hereinbefore mentioned as sold to customers found and procured by the said John A. Aupperlee, for the total sum of $10,259.82, and received therefor the total sum of $5,848.46 in four checks drawn by the purchaser, J. M. Elder, unon the First National Bank of Brainerd, Minnesota, payable to the order of ‘AVesley Case, Trustee/
“(5) That the balance of said total sum of $10,259.82 was paid by said purchaser to- persons to whom a balance of purchase price owing on said lands was due by the said AVesley Case, as such trustee, and to complete and perfect the title therein to said purchaser.
(6) That the sum of $5,848.46 was less than seven-ninths of the total sum received from the ©ale -of said northern Minnesota land by the said AVesley Case,.the said AVesley Case having previously received from the sale of 'said - lands previously sold to the customers found by said Aupperlee, as. hereinbefore in these findings mentioned, more' than two-ninths of said total sum received by the said AVesley Case for said northern Minnesota lands, and more than his share as agreed by said contract.
[81]*81“(7) That the. checks issued by said J. M. Elder, purchaser of said lands, to said Wesley Case, as hereinbefore in finding 4 set forth, were four in number. One of said -checks was for $5,000, one for $22.36, one for $750, all -dated January 20, 1902, at Brainerd, Minn., and one for $76.10, dated February 15, 1902, at the same place, and that the said four checks aggregated the said sum of $5,848.46 as above found.
“(8) That of the said checks two out of the four, to -wit, the first and last in the last paragraph above described were indorsed by -said Wesley Case, as follows: ‘Wesley Case, Trustee/ and handed by him to the -plaintiff bank, and that the plaintiff bank collected and received the full amount of said checks, viz., the total sum of $5,076.10.
“(9) That at the time said two checks were indorsed and handed by said Wesley Case to said plaintiff bank the said bank had notice that the said Wesley Case in selling said land and receiving said checks was acting as a trustee, and that the said John A. Aupperlee had furnished the money to purchase said lands to* the said Wesley Case, and was a -beneficiary of said trust and as such was interested in said checks, and the money or moneys which might be thereon collected; but did not at said time know to what extent said Aupperlee was so interested, or just ho-w much of the money called for by said checks was his.

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Bluebook (online)
125 N.W. 298, 25 S.D. 77, 1910 S.D. LEXIS 44, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cottonwood-count-bank-v-case-sd-1910.