Nolan v. Mathis

1928 OK 628, 272 P. 874, 134 Okla. 66, 1928 Okla. LEXIS 799
Supreme Court of Oklahoma·Decided October 23, 1928·No. 18687·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

BENNETT, C

This was a civil action in district court of Grant county, Okla., by Michael Nolan, plaintiff, against Harry W. Mathis, administrator of the estate of John Nolan, deceased, for recovery of the value of one-half the crop raised upon two tracts of land in said county, alleged to have been cultivated and harvested by plaintiff under nr, oral lease with John Nolan, deceased, the owner of the real estate. There was an intervention in the cause by A. K. Johnson, who sued for his charges for threshing ihe grain crop, the subject of this action, but this phase of the case we think becomes unimportant.

There was a verdict in favor of defendant administrator as against plaintiff, and a judgment in favor of intervener and against defendant for the amount claimed as threshing charges, and upon these verdicts judg *67 ment was rendered accordingly. This appeal is prosecuted by Michael Nolan alone. The parties will be referred to in the order in which they appeared in trial court.

John Nolan, a bachelor, aged about 54 years, died intestate in Lamont, Grant county, May 19, 1924, leaving- as his only heirs at law three brothers, Michael, Patriéis and Thomas, and four sisters. All the sisters except Amelia were married. Said heirs resided in the community in which John Nolan died.

John Nolan, decedent, was the owner of two tracts of land near Lamont, Olsla., known as the Blaisdell and Mabry farms, altogether containing 250 or 300 acres. Said decedent was stricken with paralysis early in 1922, received a second stroke about the last of 1923, and a final stroke in the spring of 1924, from which he died. For a month or two after his first stroke he was well nigh helpless, but improved so as to give his business at least some attention thereafter. The latter part of 1923, his condition became more serious, and he required considerable attention which was given him by his brothers and unmarried sister. During his sickness, Michael Nolan seemed to have given him more attention than the others. John Nolan went to Marlin and Mineral Wells, Tex., early in 1924, in search of health, and, growing worse, he was attended for a few days there by these brothers and the single sister. During 1923, and the early part of 1924, Michael Nolan took a sort of supervisory control over John’s business, in a measure looked after and controlled his farms, had the live stock on the farms cared for, and had the use of his bank account and checked upon the same in the name, however, of John Nolan This account was not consistently large, but the amount on hand subject to check ranged generally from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars. In addition Michael gave the sick man such personal attention as was required by his condition aided by other kinspeople, and also by nurses hired for the purpose. It seems that both the tracts of land referred to were improved w-ith houses and barns, and were fairly well supplied with farming equipment, including a great number of mules, a few horses, and considerable farm machinery and implements. There was no substantial evidence in the case of any unfriendliness between John and his brothers and sisters. The estate approximated $50,000 or $60,000 in value, and consisted of four farms, a grain elevator, and about $8.000 or $10,000 of personal property.

Plaintiff’s petition sets out that these two tracts of land belonged to John Nolan, who, in the autumn of 1923, orally leased same to plaintiff to be put in grain, upon the agreement that the proceeds of the crop should be equally divided between them, and that plaintiff seeded the farms to wheat, oats, barley and perhaps some alfalfa, and that in the following spring and early summer, he cut these grain crops and stacked them in shocks upon the land, and that before the same were threshed, Harry W- Mathis, administrator of John Nolan, deceased, entered' upon the premises, took charge of the crops, had them threshed and sold, and that the proceeds of same amounted to $3,859.40, of which plaintiff claimed a one-half interest. There was no controversy as to the amount of the proceeds of the crops; the administrator admitted the taking and sale of the crops, and set out the amount of the proceeds, but Claimed the same as the administrator of John Nolan, deceased.

The crucial point in this lawsuit was as to whether or not this wheat crop was planted and harvested by plaintiff, under an oral lease with and as a tenant of John Nolan. deceased, or whether this grain crop was -planted and cultivated upon these lands by tne' owner thereof, John Nolan, in his own right. It was contended by plaintiff that he went upon the premises as tenant of John Nolan under an arrangement similar to the one which had theretofore existed with reference to the same, or similar lands, between John and his brother-in-law, Bert Donaldson, and that Michael bore the entire expense of seeding, cultivating, and harvesting the crops, and without cost or expense to John Nolan. It was contended on the part of the defendant, however, that John furnished the seed, the farming implements and machinery, the live stock, and the land for the growing of the crops, and that he directly or indirectly paid for all the labor connected therewith; and this issue as to whom the crop belonged to was submitted to and was passed upon by the jury under instructions to which there was not a single exception by either party, and in deference to the finding of the jury, the court rendered judgment against the plaintiff, and he brings the case here for review.

In order that we may clearly understand the plaintiff's contentions, we shall set out the grounds of the alleged errors contained m the motion for new trial. They are as follows: (1) That the verdict is contrary to the evidence; (2) that the verdict is contrary to law; (3) that the verdict is not sustained by sufficient evidence; and (4) that the jury was prejudiced by the admission *68 of irrelevant, incompetent and immaterial evidence over plaintiff’s objection.

(1) Our answer to tbe first contention is that the sufficiency of the evidence was not challenged in any way in the trial court. There was no demurrer to the evidence; there was no motion to direct a verdict, and under the plain holdings of this court, that question is not now before us.

“Where a party submits his case to the jury without demurring to the evidence of his opponent, or asking a peremptory or instructed verdict thereon, or otherwise legally attacking its sufficiency, the question whether there is any evidence reasonably tending to support the finding is not presented for review by a motion for new trial alleging insufficiency of the evidence.” Oklahoma State Bank of Ochelata v. Ward, 127 Okla. 45, 259 Pac. 644.

See, also, Peters v. Wallace, 127 Okla. 182, 260 Pac. 42; Kern v. Yantis, 120 Okla. 196, 250 Pac. 1005; Brown v. McNair, 125 Okla. 144, 256 Pac. 903; Constantin Refining Co. v. Thwing, 72 Okla. 16, 178 Pac. 111; Norman v. Lambert, 64 Okla. 238, 167 Pac. 213; Muskogee Elec. Traction Co. v. Reed, 35 Okla. 334, 130 Pac. 157; Reed v. Scott, 50 Okla. 757, 151 Pac. 484; Simpson v. Mauldin, 61 Okla. 92, 160 Pac. 481; Oaks v. Samples, 57 Okla. 660, 157 Pac. 739.

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Nolan v. Mathis, 1928 OK 628, 272 P. 874, 134 Okla. 66, 1928 Okla. LEXIS 799 (Okla. 1928).

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