Dooley v. Burlington Gold Mining Co.

100 P. 797, 12 Ariz. 332, 1909 Ariz. LEXIS 104
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 20, 1909
DocketCivil No. 1039
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 100 P. 797 (Dooley v. Burlington Gold Mining Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dooley v. Burlington Gold Mining Co., 100 P. 797, 12 Ariz. 332, 1909 Ariz. LEXIS 104 (Ark. 1909).

Opinion

CAMPBELL, J. —

The amended complaint in this action alleges that the appellee, defendant below, by its duly authorized agent, one H. A. Suttle, who was a director and its general manager, also its secretary and treasurer, made to plaintiff certain false representations to induce him to purchase from it 10,000 shares of its capital stock. The representations were: That the defendant company owned and was developing and operating certain mining claims in Yavapai county, Arizona; that there were many hundreds of tons of very high-grade ore in sight in the mines; that the company had paid as a purchase price for the mines the sum of $35,000; that since the purchase of the mining claims the company had sold a large amount of its capital stock and put the entire proceeds thereof into the development of the mines; that it had not authorized to be paid, or paid, any commission for the sale of any of its stock, nor was any commission to be paid upon the' sale of stock to plaintiff; that the major portion of its capital stock had been sold at not less than forty cents per share, and a large amount thereof for sixty cents per share; that it had then in its treasury money to the amount of $15,000; that it had no treasury stock or capital stock in its treasury, except the amount that it was then offering for sale to plaintiff; that it had contracted for a ten-stamp mill, with full equipments necessary for its operation upon the mines; that arrangements had been made for its erection and placing in position; and that the mill was to be paid for with [335]*335money then in its treasury and from the money to be obtained by the sale of stock to plaintiff. All of these representations are alleged to have been false and known to the company and to Suttle, its agent, to have been false at the time they were made, and that plaintiff relied upon said representations and was thereby induced to purchase, and did purchase, 10,000 shares of stock at sixty cents per share, and did, in the month of June, 1903, pay to Suttle, as agent of defendant, and' for and on its behalf, the sum of $6,000. It is further alleged: That plaintiff never learned that the representations were untrue until on or about the 1st of May, 1905, and that since that time he has been ready and willing to return the stock to the defendant, and tenders the same to defendant; that at the time of its purchase the stock was worthless, and has ever since remained worthless; and that by reason of the premises plaintiff has been damaged in the sum of $6,000. The complaint prays for judgment against the defendant for the sum of $6,000, and for interest on the said $6,000 from the first day of June, 1903, at six per cent per annum, and that the contract of purchase be set aside and rescinded. The original complaint in the action was filed on May 29, 1905.

The defendant, by its answer, pleaded that the cause of action stated in the amended complaint was barred by the statute of limitation, for the reason that it did not accrue within one year next prior to the filing of the complaint, and further pleaded: That more than one year prior to the filing of the complaint the plaintiff visited and fully examined the defendant’s mining properties, and then and there discovered, or might have discovered, with the exercise of ordinary diligence, the truth as to the extent to which the mining properties were developed; that the plaintiff discovered, or with the exercise of reasonable diligence might have discovered, the truth as to the other representations set forth in his complaint, at a time prior to one year before the bringing of the action. It further denied specifically that the representations alleged in the complaint were made, or that the plaintiff relied upon any such representations, and alleged that prior to his purchase of stock the plaintiff examined the mining properties and relied entirely upon the result of his inspection and examination of the mines.

[336]*336The ease was tried before a jury, and a general Yerdiet finding the issues in favor of the plaintiff was rendered June 12, 1906. On June 16,1906, the defendant filed a motion that the verdict be disregarded, and that judgment be rendered for the ■defendant; also, a motion to set aside the verdict and to award a new trial of the issues. The motion for a new trial was argued and submitted on July 5, 1906, and on July 10th the plaintiff filed a motion that judgment be entered in his favor upon the verdict. On July 12th the court ordered that the case be continued for submission to another jury, for special findings, unless the parties should express a willingness that the court make findings and render judgment upon the present record and testimony. On November 8, 1906, the plaintiff filed an amendment to his complaint, and on December 5,1906, the defendant filed a motion to strike the amendment, and also an answer to the amended complaint. The motion came on to be heard, whereupon, by agreement of counsel, the amendment and motion were withdrawn, and it was agreed that ‘ ‘-the cause be submitted to the court upon the record and testimony here-inbefore made and given in this cause at a former trial.” Thereafter, on May 4, 1907, the cause was presented to the court in argument and submitted to the court for consideration and decision. On September 7, 1907, the court filed its decision in writing, wherein it found that the representations, alleged in the amended complaint to have been made by Suttle to the plaintiff at the time the latter purchased his stock, were in fact made by Suttle, substantially as alleged, and were believed by plaintiff at the time to be true, and, further, that the representations, in so far as they related to existing facts and conditions, were false and untrue, and known to be false and untrue by Suttle, at the time they were made. It was further found: That the plaintiff, before purchasing the stock, had full opportunity to ascertain the condition of the mining claims owned by the defendant, and the amount and value of the ore in sight; that he made a personal inspection and investigation of the property; that during the year 1903, and thereafter, he had full opportunity to learn what steps the company had taken, and was taking toward erecting a mill and to be informed as to the operations of the company and the amount of development work which was being done on the company's mining claimsj that the records of the [337]*337company disclosed full information as to tbe number of treasury shares which had been sold, the amounts received therefrom, and the commission which was paid thereon to the agents of the company, and what had been paid in cash by the company in the purchase of the property; and that there was no concealment practiced by Suttle or by the company as to any of these facts.

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Bluebook (online)
100 P. 797, 12 Ariz. 332, 1909 Ariz. LEXIS 104, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dooley-v-burlington-gold-mining-co-ariz-1909.