Liberty Canning Co. v. Lippencott Co.

137 N.E. 283, 80 Ind. App. 184, 1922 Ind. App. LEXIS 270
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided December 6, 1922·No. No. 11,412·Published

Opinion

Batman, C. J.

This is an action in replevin by which appellant is seeking to recover the possession of a quantity of cans from appellee. After issues were joined, the cause was submitted to the court for trial, resulting in a judgment in favor of appellee. Appellant filed a motion for a new trial on the grounds that the decision of the court is not sustained by sufficient evidence, and is contrary to law, which was overruled. This action of the court is made the basis of the only error assigned on appeal.

Appellee claims that no question is presented in this appeal, because of appellant’s failure to comply with the rules governing the preparation of briefs. It is urged, among other things, that there is a failure to set out a condensed recital of the evidence in narrative form, as required by Rule 22, where the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict is challenged. But we observe that appellee has supplied in its brief much of the evidence, which it claims is omitted from appellant’s brief, and by this means has rendered his objection thereto in this regard unavailing. This is true, notwithstanding appellee’s express disavowal of any intention of supplying any omission in appellant’s brief, as the effect of its act in that regard cannot be thus limited. Gwinn v. Hobbs (1917), 72 Ind. App. 439, 118 N. E. 155. Appellee points out a number of facts pertaining to the record, which are not shown in appellant’s brief, and makes these omissions a subject of criticism. If these omissions were [186] from the record, a far different question would be presented, but, as stated in the case last cited, it would be unreasonable to hold that every detail of the record must be shown in the brief, in order to conform to the rules relating to a concise statement of the record. To so hold would require a technical rather than a substantial compliance. While a stricter compliance with the rules than was observed by appellant in the preparation of its brief would be commendable, a desire to base our decisions, where reasonably possible, upon the merits of a cause rather than upon technicalities, has led us to accept appellant’s brief as a good faith effort to comply with the rules, resulting in substantial, although not a full compliance therewith. Peoples State Bank v. Kelly (1922), 78 Ind. App. 418, 136 N. E. 30; Evansville R. Co. v. Miller (1916), 64 Ind. App. 206, 111 N. E. 1031; City of LaFayette v. Clark, Admx. (1921), 76 Ind. App. 565, 132 N. E. 561.

There was substantial evidence introduced on the trial which tends to establish the following facts: The Citizens Trust Company of Huntingburg, Ind., as receiver of the B. F. Shaver Canning Company, while operating the latter’s canning plants under an order of the Dubois Circuit Court, entered into two contracts with the Heekin Can Company by which the former purchased cans of the latter for its use during the season of 1919, and leased to it space in its plants for the storage of cans during said season. The leasing contract contains the following provisions, among others:

“It is mutually understood that lessee will not so store on the premises hereby leased more than the seventeen (17) cars above named together with additional cars above mentioned by Aug. 1st, 1919, and that all cans remaining, in storage on said premises on Dec. 31, 1919, shall be forthwith purchased and paid for by lessor in accordance with a contract for' the sale of cans between the parties [187] hereto, dated May 31, 1919. Cans stored under this lease and storage agreement are the property of lessee (Heekin Can Co.) and shall not become the property of or be used by lessor (Receivers of B. F. Shaver Canning Co.) until paid for and transferred by bill of-sale in accordance with said sale contract.”

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Liberty Canning Co. v. Lippencott Co., 137 N.E. 283, 80 Ind. App. 184, 1922 Ind. App. LEXIS 270 (Ind. Ct. App. 1922).

137 N.E. 283 (Liberty Canning Co. v. Lippencott Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Evansville Railways Co. v. Miller
111 N.E. 1031 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1916)
Gwinn v. Hobbs
118 N.E. 155 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1917)
City of Lafayette v. Clark
132 N.E. 651 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1921)
Peoples State Bank v. Kelly
136 N.E. 30 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1922)