Joe Lyons MacHinery Company v. Wiegel

271 S.W. 333, 168 Ark. 572, 1925 Ark. LEXIS 184
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedApril 13, 1925
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 271 S.W. 333 (Joe Lyons MacHinery Company v. Wiegel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Joe Lyons MacHinery Company v. Wiegel, 271 S.W. 333, 168 Ark. 572, 1925 Ark. LEXIS 184 (Ark. 1925).

Opinion

Smith, J.

On the 28th day of July, 1923, appellee, who was a road contractor, purchased from appellant a second-hand five-ton White truck, with dump body and steel wheels, for the price of a thousand dollars, of which $250 was paid in cash and the balance of $750 was represented by a cheek drawn by appellee on the bank in which he carried his account. Appellee became dissatisfied with his purchase, and stopped the payment of the check. Appellant thereupon brought suit for the amount of this check. Appellee filed an answer denying liability, and, by way of counterclaim, prayed judgment for the $250 cash he had paid. The allegations of appellee’s answer and counterclaim were sustained by the jury, and there was a verdict and judgment in his favor for $250, from which is this appeal.

At the time of the sale of the track a bill of sale was executed, which appellee contended was intended only to evidence the passing of the title, and that a blank form of contract was used which was not intended to evidence the terms of the sale made, but was a form of' contract intended to be used when machinery was sold on partial payments, and that the provisions of this contract were inapplicable to appellee’s purchase. Appellee insisted that there was an express warranty of the contract, which he sought to prove on the theory that the writing was not intended to and did not in fact cover the entire contract of sale. The court, however, held against this contention, and refused to permit appellee to engraft a warranty on the bill of sale.

Appellee defended on the ground that the sale of the truck was procured by fraud, and the cause was submitted to the jury on that issue.

On behalf of appellant the following testimony was offered: The truck was a second-hand one, and had been previously used by appellee for several days. The truck'had been rebuilt in Memphis at a cost of $733.61, and was believed to be and in fact was in good condition. Appellee was familiar with machinery, and examined the truck before purchasing it, and no false representations to induce appellee to purchase were made.

Appellee admitted'that he had used for several days a second-hand truck belonging to appellant, but he did not know whether this was the truck which he had purchased. He knew the truck he bought was a second-hand one, but he was told that it had been rebuilt and overhauled in Memphis, and was assured that it was in good order, and that he relied on and was deceived b.y this statement of fact, and that he was induced to buy the truck by his reliance on this statement of fact. He admitted that he was somewhat familiar with machinery, and had examined the truck before purchasing it, but he testified that no one could tell what the truck’s condition was without seeing it run. inasmuch as it was second-hand, and that he bought it before running it, relying on the representation that it was in good order. Appel-lee stated to appellant’s salesman who made the sale that he intended to drive the truck from Little Rock to Shreveport, and, after the purchase, one of appellee’s employees drove the truck from appellant’s salesroom to appellee’s home, a distance of only a few blocks, and the truck became overheated, and was driven to the shop by appellant’s agent after appellant was notified of the trouble. Appellee was assured that the defect causing the trouble had been repaired, and the truck was again turned over to appellee’s employee, who started on the trip to Shreveport, but, after getting out twelve or fourteen miles on the way, a bearing burned out. Appellant was notified of this fact, and a mechanic was sent to make the necessary repair, and one of appellant’s representatives undertook to drive the truck, but the trouble continued, and, when a sandy place in the road between Benton and Mal-vern was struck, the truck stalled and could go no farther. Appellee had gone on ahead, and was in Arkadel-phia when he was notified of the trouble, and he immediately stopped payment of the cheek, and wrote appellant that the truck was of no value. He stated in this letter that he would like to have the truck if it were in usable condition, and that he would carry out his contract if appellant would place the truck in condition to be used. Appellant replied by filing this suit.

Appellee further testified that he saw the bearing-after it was taken out by the mechanic, and that no oil grooves had been cut in the bearings. A witness for appellant testified that the grooves had been stopped with dirt, but witnesses for appellee testified that the trouble developed in driving the truck only a few blocks, and that the engine heated at once, and that the bearing burned out at Rhd Gates, a point between Little Rock and Benton.

During the trial appellee offered in evidence á letter which he had received from appellant on August 11,1923, which reads as follows: 1 ‘ The understanding was that, if the truck reached Benton, all responsibilities on our part ceased, although this truck was sold to you to be delivered to you at our warehouse in the condition it was in at that time.”

Appellant insists that, as appellee introduced this letter, he was hound by it, and that he could not, and did not, contradict the statement of fact therein contained that, if the truck reached Benton, appellant’s responsibility ceased.

It appears, however, that this letter was introduced on the cross-examination of a witness for appellant, who had testified that there was no understanding whatever about the condition of the truck, and for the purpose of attacking the credibility of the witness, The letter was a self-serving statement of appellant, and we do not think it is conclusive of the facts therein recited. Moreover, it appears that the trouble developed before the truck reached Benton, first in Little Bock, where it was purchased, and later at Red G-ates.

The testimony in the case cannot be reconciled, but, if that offered on behalf of appellee is credited, the jury was warranted in finding that appellee relied upon the representation that the truck had been overhauled and was in good condition, and that he was induced by this representation to purchase, and that these representations were material, and were false.

It is insisted by appellant that a verdict should have been directed in its favor, and that any statements made by its officers and agents in negotiating the sale were mere expressions of opinion, upon which appellee had not relied and did not have the right to rely, as he knew as much about the truck as did any one who participated in the sale upon behalf of appellant. But we do not think the jury’s finding to the contrary, under the.instructions, is unsupported by the testimony. *

It is insisted that, if there was a defect in the truck, the testimony does not show that appellant knew of it. But it was not essential that this showing be made, as appellant was as much responsible for a material misrepresentation made in ignorance of the facts as for a representation which was known to he false. On this issue appellant requested the court to give the following instruction: “No. 2.

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Bluebook (online)
271 S.W. 333, 168 Ark. 572, 1925 Ark. LEXIS 184, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/joe-lyons-machinery-company-v-wiegel-ark-1925.