Druley v. Peyton

149 P.2d 478, 64 Cal. App. 2d 916, 1944 Cal. App. LEXIS 1145
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 16, 1944
DocketCiv. No. 14403
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 149 P.2d 478 (Druley v. Peyton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Druley v. Peyton, 149 P.2d 478, 64 Cal. App. 2d 916, 1944 Cal. App. LEXIS 1145 (Cal. Ct. App. 1944).

Opinion

McCOMB, J.

From a judgment in favor of plaintiff in the sum of $939.49, after trial before the court without a jury, in an action to recover a sum of money alleged to be due pursuant to an agreement between plaintiff and defendant, defendant appeals.

There is also an appeal from the trial court’s order denying defendant’s motion to vacate and set aside the judgment and to enter another and different judgment.

The essential allegations in the complaint are that:

(1) On or about April 18, 1940, plaintiff and defendant entered into an agreement whereby defendant agreed to acquire, on behalf of himself , and plaintiff, a one-fourth interest in a business known as the ‘‘Automotive Sales” for the sum of $3,500; each of the parties to . pay one-half of the purchase price ; plaintiff to pay $1,000 at the time the-agreement was made and the balance of $750 when and after defendant had paid $1,000 of his share of the purchase price to the vendor of the Automotive Sales business; all profits and moneys derived from the one-fourth interest in the business to be paid to the vendor of the business until the purchase price of the one-fourth interest, to wit, $3,500, had been paid, and thereafter all moneys derived from their share [918]*918in the business to be divided equally between plaintiff and defendant.
(2) Plaintiff paid to defendant the sum of $1,000.
(3) Defendant purchased a one-fourth interest in the automotive business from Ed Hale and applied the $1,000 received from plaintiff on account of the purchase price of the interest in said business.
(4) Defendant did not advance or pay any additional amount on account of the purchase price of said interest in the automotive business.
(5) $2,500 due as earnings upon the one-fourth interest in the business was applied by the vendor in payment of the balance of the purchase price, and an additional amount exceeding the sum of $5,400, representing earnings on the one-fourth interest, was paid by Ed Hale to defendant; and
(6) Defendant has not paid to plaintiff any moneys received by him from Ed Hale on account of the one-fourth interest in the automotive business excepting the sum of $1,000, leaving a balance due and unpaid from defendant to plaintiff in a sum exceeding $2,000.

There are three questions necessary for us to determine which will be stated and answered hereunder seriatim:

First: Was the amount in controversey sufficient to confer jurisdiction upon the superior court?

This question must be answered in the affirmative and is governed by the following pertinent rules:

(1) The Superior Court of Los Angeles County has jurisdiction in all actions to recover damages for breach of the terms of a contract where the amount involved exceeds $2,000. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 5; Code Civ. Proc., § 89a.)
(2) If under the allegations of a complaint plaintiff is entitled to an amount equal to or in excess of the superior court’s jurisdictional minimum, that court has jurisdiction [919]*919of the cause even though the judgment is for an amount less than the jurisdictional amount of the superior court, (Sellery v. Ward, 21 Cal.2d 300, 305 [131 P.2d 550]; Hammell v. Superior Court, 217 Cal. 5, 7 [17 P.2d 101]; Warfield v. Basso, 62 Cal.App. 47, 50 [216 P. 48]. See, also, Consolidated etc. Co. v. Superior Court, 189 Cal. 92, 94 [207 P. 552]; Frost v. Mighetto, 22 Cal.App.2d 612, 614 [71 P.2d 932].)

It appears that the account between plaintiff and defendant was as follows:

Charge defendant:
Received from plaintiff.............$1,000
Received from Ed Hale on account of ' ■
profits on 14 interest in automotive
business........................ 5,400
Amount agreed to be paid to Ed Hale by defendant................■... 1,000
Total ...........................$7,400
Credit plaintiff:
Amount due from plaintiff to defendant under contract.............$ 750
Amount paid to Ed Hale........... 1,000
Amount paid to plaintiff............ 1,000
Total '...........................$2,750
Balance of profit .........................$4,650
Half of profit to which plaintiff was entitled according to his agreement
with defendant ................................$2,825.

Therefore since the allegations of the complaint showed that plaintiff was entitled to $2,325, the complaint stated a cause of action within the jurisdictional amount of the superior court even though the trial court gave a judgment for less than the amount plaintiff sought to recover.

Second: Was there substantial evidence to sustain the trial court's findings of fact?

This question must be answered in the affirmative. The evidence being viewed according to the rules set forth in Kling v. Crown Finance Corp., 63 Cal.App.2d 33, 34 [146 [920]*920P.2d 54], supports the trial court’s findings of fact. For example, Mr. Ed Hale testified that he gave defendant a cheek for $1,835.62, which plus certain credits defendant was allowed made a total of $3,006.37, representing the profits which defendant received from the Automotive Sales business. Oner-half of this total is $1,503.19. Plaintiff admitted receiving $1,000 on account of the profits which left a balance due him of $503.19. In addition to this later sum plaintiff was entitled to $875. This sum equals the amount plaintiff’s share in the profits would have been increased had defendant abided by the terms of his agreement and paid $1,750 to Mr. Ed Hale on account of the purchase price of the interest which he purchased in the Automotive Sales business. The amount due plaintiff thus appears to be $1,378.19, and since the judgment was only for $939.49, the error being favorable to defendant may not be urged by him as grounds for a reversal.

Third: Did the trial court err in ruling upon the admissibility of evidence during the cross-examination of plaintiff’s witness, Mr. Ed Hale f

This question must be answered in the negative. The questions, objections, and rulings udder consideration are as follows:

‘ ‘ Q. Then the total amount that Mr. Peyton received from you for the two years’ supervision of the Automotive Sales was only $3,006.37 ?
“Mr. McLaughlin: I want to make an objection to that on the ground that it calls for a conclusion of the witness, and is immaterial.
“Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
149 P.2d 478, 64 Cal. App. 2d 916, 1944 Cal. App. LEXIS 1145, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/druley-v-peyton-calctapp-1944.