Eames v. Haver

43 P. 1120, 111 Cal. 401, 1896 Cal. LEXIS 596
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 28, 1896
DocketL. A. No. 50
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 43 P. 1120 (Eames v. Haver) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eames v. Haver, 43 P. 1120, 111 Cal. 401, 1896 Cal. LEXIS 596 (Cal. 1896).

Opinion

Vanclief, C.

The complaint in this action may be stated substantially as follows:

In May, 1893, the defendant purchased from plaintiff twenty acres of land with orange grove thereon, for which he was to pay $8,000 in cash, and assign and deliver to plaintiff one hundred shares of the capital stock of a corporation named “Bear Valley and Alessandro [403]*403Development Company.” As a part of the transaction, however, it was agreed that, on demand of the plaintiff, the defendant would exchange for said stock an equal number of shares of the stock of a corporation named" Bear Valley Irrigation Company,” the expense of such exchange not exceeding five per cent of the value of the last-mentioned stock, to be paid by plaintiff to defendant as brokerage. At the time the land was conveyed by plaintiff (May 6, 1893) defendant paid the $8,000 and also assigned and delivered to plaintiff one hundred shares of the stock of the Bear Valley and Alessandro Development Company, which will hereinafter be ca'led the development company. Defendant’s promise to exchange stock as aforesaid was a part of the consideration for the conveyance of the land by the plaintiff.

Thereafter, within a reasonable time, on or about June 9, 1893, plaintiff demanded of defendant an exchange of stock according to the agreement, tendering to defendant said one hundred shares of development company stock, and five per cent on the value of one hundred shares of the irrigation stock, but defendant refused to make the exchange, denying the alleged agreement to make such exchange. That at the time of said tender and demand one hundred shares of the stock of the irrigation company were of the value of $10,000, and the stock of the development company was of no value whatever. That since said demand and refusal both the irrigation company and the development company have become insolvent and the stock of neither has any market value.

Plaintiff alleged that he was damaged by defendant’s breach of the agreement to exchange stocks in a sum equal to the difference of value of said stocks, to wit, the sum of $7,910, at the time of said demand and refusal, and prays judgment for that sum.

In his answer defendant denies the alleged agreement to exchange stocks; denies the alleged tender and demand by plaintiff; also denies that one hundred shares of the irrigation stock was of greater value than $4,000 [404]*404at the time of the alleged demand and tender by plaintiff; and further denies that one hundred shares of the stock of the development company was then “ of less value than $4,000.”

The cause was tried by a jury whose verdict was in favor of plaintiff, assessing the damages at $4,850, for which sum judgment was rendered against the defendant.

Defendant moved for a new trial, which was granted by the following order:

“ The motion for new trial heretofore made in this case upon the part of defendant will be granted, upon the following grounds, to wit: . 1. The court erred in giving instructions Nos7. 3,4, and 6 at the request of the plaintiff, as each of said instructions ignored the five per cent commission which defendant was entitled to under the testimony and plaintiff's own pleadings; 2. Upon the insufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict, in this, that the weight of the evidence does not support the verdict as to the difference in value of the stock of the Bear Valley and Alessandro Development Company and the stock of the Bear Valley Irrigation Company.”

1. The instructions “Nos. 3, 4, and 6,” referred to in the order as being erroneous, related to the measure of damages, and were to the effect that if the market value of the irrigation stock exceeded that of the development stock at the time of the demand of plaintiff for an exchange of stocks, the difference of such values would be the measure of the damages suffered by plaintiff, and that plaintiff was entitled to recover as damages a sum equal to such difference.

It is admitted that a brokerage, not exceeding five per cent of the value of the irrigation stock, should have been deducted from the excess of the value of that stock over that of the development stock, and, therefore, that the measure of damages, as stated in the instruction, is too large by the amount of such brokerage.

Appellant contends that this error can be corrected [405]*405by a modification of the judgment without any necessity for a new trial, and offers here, for the first time, to remit from the judgment a sum equal to five per cent on the greatest possible value attributed to one hundred shares of the irrigation stock by the complaint or by any part of the evidence.

In the complaint the value of one hundred shares of the irrigation stock, at the time of plaintiff's demand for the exchange, is alleged to have been $10,000; and the answer of the defendant denies that it was then of any greater value than $4,000. The highest estimate of the value of that stock (one hundred shares), at any time, by defendant's witnesses was $10,500; and appellant offers to remit from the judgment a sum equal to five per cent of this valuation, which would be $525; and I think such remittance would fully compensate the respondent for all possible injury resulting from the alleged erroneous instructions, except his costs of this appeal.

Considering all the circumstances, I think the offer of appellant to remit $525 from the judgment, which is equal to five per cent of the value of the irrigation stock, is quite liberal; and that respondent should be required to accept it on the condition that appellant pay all costs of the appeal. (Atherton v. Fowler, 46 Cal. 320; Kern Valley Bank v. Chester, 55 Cal. 49; Woods v. Merrill, 57 Cal. 435. See also Davis v. Southern Pac. Co., 98 Cal. 18.) Perhaps the condition that appellant pay all costs of the appeal would not be just if he had offered to remit the $525 in the lower court before a new trial was ordered.

2. Hor do I think the second ground upon which the new trial was granted can be sustained, namely, insufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict as to the difference in value of the stock of the development company and that of the irrigation company.

The court evidently overlooked the effect of the pleadings upon the value of the development stock. The complaint alleges that, at the time the exchange of [406]*406stocks was demanded, one hundred shares of the development stock was of no value.

The answer denies that one hundred shares of the development stock was then, or ever, of less value than $4,000. Thus the defendant failed to deny the allegation of the complaint as to the value of the development stock, except to the extent of $4,000, and by statutory implication, admits the truth of the allegation in the complaint -except to that extent. Besides there is no evidence tending to prove that the market value of the development stock ever exceeded $40 per share. The defendant, who was a broker dealing in stocks, and who testified at greater length than any other witness on either side, said nothing as to the market value of the development stock, except that he had never represented to plaintiff that it had any market value. The only other witnesses on the part of the defendant — Mr. Waters and Mr. Sterling—each testified that he did not know that the development stock ever had any market value, though Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
43 P. 1120, 111 Cal. 401, 1896 Cal. LEXIS 596, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eames-v-haver-cal-1896.