Murphy v. W. & W. Livestock Co.

187 P. 187, 26 Wyo. 455, 1920 Wyo. LEXIS 5
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 3, 1920
DocketNo. 974
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 187 P. 187 (Murphy v. W. & W. Livestock Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murphy v. W. & W. Livestock Co., 187 P. 187, 26 Wyo. 455, 1920 Wyo. LEXIS 5 (Wyo. 1920).

Opinions

BlydENburgi-i, Justice.

The plaintiff in error, Murphy, brought this- suit in the court below to recover from the defendant in error, W. & W. Dive Stock Company, a corporation, five thousand five hundred and fifty dollars alleged to be due as commissions for [459]*459finding a purchaser for certain ranch lands, leases and sheep. The case was tried to a jury, which returned a verdict for the defendant, upon which judgment was rendered, and plaintiff brings this proceeding in error.

The plaintiff’s amended petition contains two causes of action, in the first alleging “that ever since on or about the 15th day of October, 1918, there has been due him from the defendant the sum of fiive thousand dollars ($5,000.00) with interest thereon at 8% on a contract entered into between the plaintiff and defendant whereby on or about the 23rd day of September, 1918, it was agreed by the defendant with the plai'ntiff that if the plaintiff would find a purchaser for certain ranch lands of defendant’s being about 560 acres near Big Trails, Wyoming, together with the leases on about 2,000 acres of land in the same vicinity thereof, at the price of thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,-000), then the defendant would pay the plaintiff the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00). That the plaintiff produced a purchaser ready, willing and able to pay the price fixed and on or about the 15th day of October, 1918, terms of sale were agreed upon between defendant and said purchaser, one Bred Eberhard, and an enforceable contract executed between them for the sale of the said land and leases and under the terms of said contract the defendant received and retained the sum of ten thousand dollars cash at the time of the execution thereof from said purchaser, Eberhard; when, at which time, the sum of five thousand dollars became due and payable to plaintiff from defendant; yet defendant, though requested, has not paid any part thereof.”

The second cause of action is in the same general language except it is alleged that the plaintiff was to find a purchaser for certain sheep at $17 per head; that he did produce a purchaser for 2,200 head of sheep ready, willing and able to purchase the same and that defendant agreed with plaintiff that 25c per head was a reasonable commission therefor. The defendant answered the first cause of action first by a general denial and then after admitting its corporate exist[460]*460ence alleged in substance that the plaintiff stated to defendant that he had a purchaser for defendant’s ranch lands near Big Trails, Wyoming, and for a band of breed-’ ing ewes kept on or near said ranch and inquired what commission defendant would be willing to pay plaintiff if said purchaser should be induced by plaintiff to purchase and pay for said property. That defendant advised plaintiff that it was willing to sell said ranch property- for $30,000 and said sheep for $17.00 per head, and that defendant would not pay any commission at the price named and if plaintiff procured a purchaser at the price named he must obtain any commissions for his services from such purchaser. That thereupon plaintiff represented he had a purchaser who would pay $35,000 for the ranch, $17.00 per head for the sheep, and thereupon defendant agreed with plaintiff if plaintiff produced a purchaser who would purchase and pay for the property at the prices named then the plaintiff should receive the sum of $5,000, the difference between the price for which- plaintiff was willing to sell and the price plaintiff represented the purchaser produced by him would pay therefor. Then it is alleged the plaintiff represented that the proposed purchaser was one Fred Eberhard, and that he was financially responsible and possessed money and credit sufficient to enable him to purchase said property and pay defendant the purchase price thereof. That on Oct. 15, 1918, a contract was entered into between the said Fred Eberhard and the defendant for the purchase of s'aid ranch, sheep and certain personal property on said ranch, by the terms of which Eberhard was to pay $35,000 for the ranch, $17.00 per head for the sheep and $5,500 for the other personal property, $10,000 to be paid, and was paid, at the signing of the agreement, and the balance to be paid and possession to be given on or before Dec. 1, 1918. That at the time of entering into the contract of sale the defendant had no knowledge of the financial responsibility of Eberhard other than the representations of plaintiff and that it relied upon the information furnished by plaintiff in that [461]*461respect. That said statements of plaintiff respecting Eber-hard’s financial responsibility were false and untrue and he was not financially responsible, was not able and did not comply with the contract and pay the balance of the purchase money or take the property. That defendant complied in every respect with its contract and was able and willing to convey and deliver the said property, as required by the contract on the payment of the purchase price. That by reason of the failure of Eberhard to complete the purchase by payment of the balance of the purchase price plaintiff failed to earn or be entitled to any commission, Then follows a general denial of the second cause of action.

The plaintiff filed a reply which reiterated the claims of the petition and denied that he made any false and untrue statements concerning the financial responsibility and worth of Eberhard and denied that Eberhard was not financially able to comply with the" contract of purchase at the time he entered into said contract with the defendant; alleges that defendant had ample time and opportunity to ascertain Eberhard’s financial responsibility and worth before entering into the contract with him and defendant accepted him as the purchaser found by plaintiff without any question as to his financial responsibility and entered into the contract at which time plaintiff’s' commission became due and payable to plaintiff from defendant and plaintiff was estopped from claiming there is nothing due plaintiff by reason of the failure of Eberhard to complete the purchase by payment of the balance of the purchase price.

The petition in error sets out seven different specifications of error; to-wit:

“1. That said court erred in ruling out the evidence offered by the said W. W. Murphy on the trial of said action.”
“2. That said court erred in over-ruling the motion of said W. W. Murphy for a directed verdict, at the close of the trial, under his first cause of action in the amended petition.”
[462]*462“3. That said court erred in the instructions given to the jury on the trial of said action, viz: Instructions Nos. 2 and 3, as appears in the record.”
“4. That said court erred in refusing to give the instructions which plaintiff in error prayed the court to give, viz: Instructions ‘A’ to ‘U, inclusive, as appears in the record.”
“5. That said court erred in over-ruling the motion of plaintiff for a new trial.”
“6. That judgment was given for said defendant, when it ought to have been given for the said plaintiff, according to the laws of the land.”
“7. And there are other errors, prejudicial to the plaintiff in-error, manifest upon the face of the record.”

The motion for a new trial contained five different grounds as follows:

“1st. The verdict is not sustained by sufficient evidence and is contrary to law.”

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Bluebook (online)
187 P. 187, 26 Wyo. 455, 1920 Wyo. LEXIS 5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murphy-v-w-w-livestock-co-wyo-1920.