Elting v. Pickett

372 P.2d 261, 190 Kan. 54, 17 Oil & Gas Rep. 405, 1962 Kan. LEXIS 345
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJune 9, 1962
Docket42,776
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 372 P.2d 261 (Elting v. Pickett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Elting v. Pickett, 372 P.2d 261, 190 Kan. 54, 17 Oil & Gas Rep. 405, 1962 Kan. LEXIS 345 (kan 1962).

Opinions

[55]*55The opinion of the court was delivered by

Robb, J.:

This is an appeal from the judgment and orders of the trial court in favor of plaintiff and from the overruling of defendant’s motion to strike findings of fact and conclusions of law, and defendant’s motion for new trial.

Plaintiff’s petition substantially alleged that from December 11, 1954, through January 17,1955, defendant Pickett was vice-president of the Ashton Oil Company, Incorporated, a Kansas corporation. On December 11, 1954, defendant, acting in behalf of the corporation, offered for sale and sold to plaintiff a V%2 working interest in two oil leases (Jabara and Harris) located in Cowley county, Kansas, for the amount of $1,750. On January 21,1955, plaintiff received assignments of those interests executed by the president and secretary of the corporation which assignments were attached to the petition as exhibit A.

On January 10, 1955, defendant, acting in behalf of the corporation, offered for sale and sold to plaintiff a Vz2 working interest, subject to a 146 overriding royalty interest, in the Marrs lease, also in Cowley county, Kansas, for the sum of $2,550. On February 10, 1955, the assignment of this interest, executed the same as the Jabara and Harris leases had been, was received by plaintiff, and was attached to the petition as exhibit B.

On January 17, 1955, defendant, acting in behalf of the corporation, offered for sale and sold plaintiff a Vz2 working interest, subject to a lie overriding royalty interest, in the Warren lease located in Kay county, Oklahoma. On April 27, 1955, the assignment of this lease, executed as the previous ones had been, was received by plaintiff, and was attached to the petition as exhibit C. All the leases were completed as commercial producers of oil or gas and up to the filing date of his petition (July 8,1957) plaintiff had received as his share $766.17. Plaintiff alleged that defendant, in making the sales, was acting at the direction and with the assistance of the president and secretary of the corporation and at the time of the sales the interests in the leases were not registered as required by G. S. 1949, 17-1226, 17-1227, and 17-1228. Plaintiff, pursuant to G. S. 1949, 17-1240, tendered to the defendant the undivided Yzz working interests in the Jabara, Harris, Marrs, and Warren leases together with all income derived therefrom. Plaintiff finally alleged defendant was liable to him for $6,300 and for court costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees.

[56]*56On July 11, 1957, plaintiff filed the tender of the above leases with the clerk of the district court. Defendant demurred generally to the petition, which demurrer was overruled on November 18, 1957. Plaintiff filed an amended petition by reason of motions with which we are not now concerned, but the amended petition added only that the amounts paid by plaintiff were paid to the corporation.

Defendant’s answer denied that he was a stockholder, director, or officer of the corporation during the period from December 11, 1954, through January 17, 1955. He denied that he offered for sale Vs2 working interests in the Jabara and Harris leases or that he was on December 11, 1954, acting in behalf of the corporation, and having no knowledge of the assignment from the corporation to plaintiff, he denied that part of plaintiff’s allegations affecting the Jabara and Harris leases. He likewise denied the same things so far as the Marrs and Warren leases were concerned. He specifically denied the other allegations of the petition except that he admitted the working interests were not registered but denied they were required to be registered by any applicable Kansas statute.

He alleged that if plaintiff was the owner of such interests, they were acquired in transactions “. . . which are specifically exempt from the applicable Kansas statutes.” He further alleged that G. S. 1949, 17-1240, was void for uncertainty in its meaning and is so vague and indefinite that the court was unable to determine the legislative intent thereof. Finally, in his answer defendant restated his general demurrer that the petition failed to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action in favor of plaintiff and against defendant.

Plaintiff filed his reply in the form of a general denial.

Plaintiff called his first witness, Robert L. Jones, a geologist and one of the original incorporators of the corporation in 1934. He stated the purpose of the corporation was “to explore for oil.” At this time defendant objected to the introduction of evidence on behalf of plaintiff because the amended petition did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against the defendant. The trial court ruled this was a demurrer to the pleadings and declared it out of order.

Plaintiff’s evidence continued:

Jones testified that he made the assignments of the leases involved to plaintiff for the corporation. He first met defendant in 1954, and sometime between then and an election of officers in June or [57]*57July, 1955, defendant purchased 250 shares of the stock of the corporation and attended one of the meetings of the board of directors. Money was obtained to drill wells by selling interests in leases and eleven of the fifteen wells drilled were commercial producers. Jones did not know what defendant’s job was. Defendant did not have any specific job with the corporation and had not come into the corporation until 1955. Jones did not sell any of the interests in the leases in question but the Jabara lease which had originally started with him and the assigment was made by him as president of the corporation and attested by the secretary. Defendant had nothing to do with the assignment. To his knowledge defendant had nothing to do with the assignment of the Marrs lease. His testimony was approximately the same on the other two assignments from the corporation to plaintiff.

Jones further testified that after January 2, 1955, defendant was in Acapulco, Mexico, and that he had “. . . no knowledge that Mr. Pickett ever accepted being on the Board of Directors for the Corporation.”

Defendant was called as plaintiff’s witness and testified that he purchased an interest in the corporation about January 21, 1955, and kept it for a few months. He had previously testified in a bankruptcy hearing on September 30, 1958, that he was listed as a member of the board of directors and also as a vice-president and that he had attended one meeting of the board of directors in Wichita. In the counter abstract the examination in the bankruptcy hearing was more fully reflected but nowhere in the record are there any specific dates or any documentary evidence to show any dates, nor is there any testimony by defendant, that he was ever part of the management of the corporation. In fact, defendant testified that he . . was never at any time directly or indirectly a part of the management of the Ashton Oil Company.”

Plaintiff next testified in his own behalf that on December 11, 1954, in Johnson county, Kansas, Doctor Ralph L. Messer told plaintiff about the corporation and that the defendant could tell plaintiff if he could buy an interest in the corporation’s oil and gas leases and plaintiff had called defendant and found that he could buy the interest in the Jabara lease. Plaintiff gave a check for $1,000 to Messer that same night. The check was payable to the corporation and was delivered to defendant.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Getter v. R. G. Dickinson & Co.
366 F. Supp. 559 (S.D. Iowa, 1973)
Allen v. Schauf
449 P.2d 1010 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1969)
Elting v. Pickett
372 P.2d 261 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1962)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
372 P.2d 261, 190 Kan. 54, 17 Oil & Gas Rep. 405, 1962 Kan. LEXIS 345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/elting-v-pickett-kan-1962.