McKnight v. Bellamy

449 S.W.2d 706, 248 Ark. 27, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 287, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1171
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 9, 1970
Docket5-5189
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 449 S.W.2d 706 (McKnight v. Bellamy) 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
McKnight v. Bellamy, 449 S.W.2d 706, 248 Ark. 27, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 287, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1171 (Ark. 1970).

Opinion

J. Fred Jones, Justice.

This is an appeal by John A. McKnight from a judgment of the White County Circuit Court in favor of John H. Bellamy, Jr. in a suit brought by Bellamy against McKnight for the return of the purchase price of a mare which McKnight sold and Bellamy purchased at an auction sale.

John A. McKnight, doing business as Meadowland Quarter Horse Ranch, breeds registered quarter horses and sells them at public auction. In advance of the auction, and in preparation therefor, the history and credentials, including blood lines and descriptions of the animals to be sold, are published in catalogue, or booklet form, and the booklets are distributed among prospective purchasers of quarter horses. At an auction sale held on November 27, 1965, one of the McKnight mares to be sold was “Holiday Dandy” and as to her, the booklet stated: “1966 Sells bred to Silver Light 14,-398 by Show Boy.” John H. Bellamy, Jr. farms and raises quarter horses. He attended the auction on November 27, 1965, for the purpose of purchasing a brood mare, and relying on the information contained in the booklet, he bid and paid the sum of $575 for the mare, “Holiday Dandy,” believing her to be in foal by the registered stallion, “Silver Light.”

The record reveals a custom in the horse auction business and one announced and followed by McKnight, that when a mare is sold under the representation that she had been bred, such representation conveys a reasonable assumption that the mare is pregnant or in foal. If it should develop following the sale, that a mare which has been sold as a bred mare is not actually in foal, then the purchaser has “return privileges.” He may return the mare to the seller’s ranch for the purpose of being rebred, and in such event, the purchaser is entitled to select any stallion on the seller’s ranch to which the mare may be rebred.

Two days after Bellamy purchased and paid for the mare, he learned that she was not in foal and on December 11, 1965, he returned her to McKnight’s ranch to be rebred. Bellamy heard nothing further from the McKnight ranch until on March 8, 1966, Bellamy was advised by McKnight’s ranch manager that the mare had died on March 3. Bellamy filed suit in the White County Circuit Court for damages in the loss of the mare because of McKnight’s negligence and for the return of the purchase price because of breach of warranty. The trial court, sitting as a jury, rendered judgment in favor of Bellamy for $575. On appeal to this court McKnight relies on the following points for reversal:

“The risk of loss shifted to the buyer at the time of the sale.
That there was no evidence that the appellee sustained any damages.”

Mr. McKnight contends that the Uniform Commercial Code sustains his oosition. He cites Ark. Stat. Ann. § 85-2-519 (Add. 1961 j 1 as authority for his first point, and § ’85-2-714 (2) as authority for his second. We are of the opinion that neither section is an aid to Mr. McKnight’s position under the facts of this case. In citing § 85-2-519, Mr. McKnight quotes from § 85-2-510(1). This latter section was obviously intended and it reads as follows:

“Where a tender or delivery of goods so fails to conform to the contract as to give a right of rejection the risk of their loss remains on the seller until cure or acceptance.”

When this section of the Code is applied to the facts in this case, it is in aid of affirmance, rather than reversal, of the judgment of the trial court.

In his complaint, as amended, Bellamy alleged breach of warranty, and also McKnight’s negligence, as a cause of the mare’s death. There was substantial evidence from which the trial court could have rendered the judgment it did on either count. There is ample evidence that Bellamy purchased the mare for a brood mare and that McKnight’s agents represented the mare as being bred to Silver Light and led Bellamy to believe that the mare was in foal. The evidence is also clear that the mare was not in foal when she was purchased by Bellamy and that McKnight’s agents and employees knew she was not in foal at the time she was sold to Bellamy under misleading representations.

R. T. Nelson was an employee of McKnight in charge of the mares in pasture. Mr. Albritton was the ranch manager in charge of the entire operation, and Mr. Donald Gray was a trainer for McKnight and assisted in grooming and showing the animals at the auction sales. The only evidence that the mare purchased by Bellamy was ever bred to Silver Light, as represented in the booklets and at the sale, came from the testimony of R. T. Nelson who testified that the mare ran in the pasture with Silver Light and that he witnessed coverage on two occasions during the summer prior to the sale.

“Q. Do you recall the date, approximate date that you last saw Silver Light cover this mare?
A. Well, no, sir; it was in the summer time when he had them running in the pasture there together.”

Donald Gray knew more about the entire transaction than anyone else who testified, and he testified as follows:

“A. I told Mr. Albritton approximately three days before the sale that we had found this mare in heat, which would definitely indicate she was not bred or in foal.
Q. Now, what is the practice when you find that one of these mares has not ‘taken’ or is not in foal, or if you get evidence she was in heat before a sale?
A. The policy, if your catalogue is already printed, which in this case it was, this should have been brought to the attention of the prospective buyers in the ring before the mare was sold.
Q. In other words, when the horse is run through the ring, if you have knowledge to this effect you announce that condition is out?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was this done on that particular day?
A. No, sir, not on this mare."

There is no evidence that the mare was ever bred again after she was returned to the McKnight ranch on December 11, 1965, but there is substantial evidence from which the court could have found that it was through the negligence of McKnight’s agents and employees that the mare died on March 3 from sheer lack of proper veterinary medical attention. In this connection Mr. Gray testified:

“Q. Do you recall anything after this mare was sold, concerning this particular mare?
A. Well, in a very short time the mare reappeared at the ranch, was said not to be in foal, and was going to be rebred to one of the farm stallions; the mare was placed in a pasture with some of the company mares, and when I say company I mean Mr. McKnight’s mares, in the pasture with them; that was, oh, approximately sometime in December; now, through the month of December and into January this mare, she continued to fall off in weight, and the mare’s looks just weren’t what they should be; I reported this to Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
449 S.W.2d 706, 248 Ark. 27, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 287, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1171, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcknight-v-bellamy-ark-1970.