Grupe v. Glick

160 P.2d 832, 26 Cal. 2d 680, 1945 Cal. LEXIS 183
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedJune 29, 1945
DocketL. A. 19108
StatusPublished
Cited by86 cases

This text of 160 P.2d 832 (Grupe v. Glick) 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
Grupe v. Glick, 160 P.2d 832, 26 Cal. 2d 680, 1945 Cal. LEXIS 183 (Cal. 1945).

Opinions

EDMONDS, J.

A judgment for damages followed findings that oil refining equipment sold by Fred P. Glick, doing business as Fabriform Steel Products Company, did not operate as represented by him. Upon the appeal from that judgment, the principal questions presented for determination concern the measure of damages to be applied and the sufficiency of the evidence to support the findings as to certain amounts of damage sustained by the purchaser.

It appears that three machines which the appellants sold to George G. Grupe, Jr., upon representations that they would re-refine oil, were not properly designed or constructed. Grupe paid $500 for each of them under a contract which gave him the exclusive selling rights for the device, and upon the express warranty that they were suitable for the purpose of re-refining oil. Grupe sold each machine for $1,500 and he was negotiating for the sale of five more at a price of $1,800, respectively, when it was ascertained that the equipment was unsuitable for the warranted purpose. The trial court found that the equipment bought by Grupe had a total value of $75 at the time of its delivery but, if as represented, its value would have been $4,500, and awarded general damages in the amount of $4,425. In addition, the court found that Grupe is entitled to special damages for loss sustained as a result of the breach of warranty in the amounts of $321.34 expended by him, $526.50 expended by one and $600 by another of his vendees, and $1,000 as prospective profits on future sales. Judgment was rendered for the sum of $6,872.84. The appeal of Glick individually and as doing business under the fictitious name is not only from the judgment but also from an order denying a motion to introduce evidence in the form of a demonstration of equipment of the kind sold by him.

[683]*683The findings to the effect that the machines were not properly designed and constructed rest upon conflicting evidence and, the appellants concede, are not now subject to objection insofar as the basis for them is concerned. But it is argued that the judgment should be reversed because the trial court refused to receive additional evidence. The same offer of proof was made at the time a motion for a new trial was heard and denied.

The appellants also vigorously attack the several amounts for which the judgment was rendered and first challenge the sum of $4,425 given to the buyer as general damages. They urge that as the buyer’s resale price included the cost of procuring customers for his vendees, the value of that service should have been deducted from the amount of damages. Regarding the award made for the expenditures of purchasers from Grupe in attempting to make the machines conform to the warranty, although the amounts are not questioned, it is claimed that they are not recoverable in this action because it does not appear either that the respondent has paid them or that his vendees have sued him for breach of warranty. As to the loss of anticipated profits on sales for which $1,000 was allowed, it is contended that this is not a proper item of damage in an action brought by the owner of a business which has not been established long enough to have a record of profitable operation. In any event, the appellants say, the evidence does not show that the damages awarded were within the contemplation of the parties at the time they contracted. In support of the judgment in his favor, the respondent urges that the authorities cited by the appellants are not in point or, upon the facts shown in this case, are distinguishable. Moreover, he asserts, the findings of the trial court are supported by substantial evidence, and all conflicts must be resolved in his favor.

Considering the appellants’ complaint regarding the court’s refusal to receive experimental evidence, the record shows that at the conclusion of the presentation of testimony, Glick asked leave to operate one of the three machines which he had sold and to offer demonstrative proof as to its operation under such conditions as might be imposed. This motion was granted. The' following day the conditions for operation were agreed upon. It was determined that 1,000 gallons of oil were to be run through the equipment and that the test was to be completed within one week. Thereupon the court, for the an[684]*684nounced purpose of allowing sufficient time to make the demonstration, continued the trial for 12 days, with the understanding that if counsel were not present on that day, it would go over for one week, and if necessary for an additional week thereafter.

Pursuant to this understanding, counsel took the full time allowed, a total of 26 days from the date when leave was granted to make the demonstration. But this time was given with the express requirement that the test must be completed by March 30th, the date which had been fixed by the court for final arguments. On March 30th, counsel for Glick advised the court that the demonstration had not been made and, for their accommodation, the matter was again continued to April 9th, with the direction that the parties then must be prepared to argue the case. Two days were set aside for that purpose.

When the case was called on April 9th, Glick’s counsel stated that the promised demonstration had not been made, and he requested permission to make a continuous run of the machine for 30 hours. If the device performed at a capacity of 20 gallons per hour, according to the representation upon which Grupe purchased it, that time would allow the processing of 600 gallons of oil instead of 1,000 gallons, which was the amount contemplated by the operation originally proposed. In making the request, counsel for Glick agreed with the trial judge that he had been very lenient in allowing time within which to make the proposed test. The motion was opposed by counsel for Grupe, who pointed out that considerable time had been consumed by the prior continuance and there was no explanation for the failure to make the promised demonstration within the 26 days which had been provided for that purpose. The motion was denied.

It is argued that the objection to the proposed 30-hour demonstration was arbitrary, that it does not appear that the respondent would have been harmed by the delay, and that, as the motion was based upon an offer to show that the machine could re-refine oil at the rate of 20 gallons per hour, the appellants were prejudiced by the court’s ruling. The appellants also complain that prejudicial error resulted from the failure of the trial court, at the hearing of the motion for a new trial, to receive into evidence the results of a trial run of the machine or to permit a demonstration originally proposed.

[685]*685In its ruling at the time the motion for new trial was heard, the court pointed out that during the trial ample time had been given within which to make the demonstration but that Glick had not taken advantage of the opportunity afforded him, nor had he made any adequate explanation of his failure to do so. Moreover, the trial judge observed that the affidavits presented in support of the motion for a new trial did not show that Glick had any evidence which, with due diligence, could not have been produced at the trial.

The granting or withholding of permission to make a test operation, the results of which are to be presented as evidence of the existence or nonexistence of a material fact in controversy, is a determination largely within the discretion of the trial court and its ruling will not be disturbed except upon a clear showing of an abuse thereof (Miller v. Dollar Steamship Lines, Inc.,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
160 P.2d 832, 26 Cal. 2d 680, 1945 Cal. LEXIS 183, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grupe-v-glick-cal-1945.