Orr & Lindsley Shoe Co. v. Needles

67 F. 990, 15 C.C.A. 142, 1895 U.S. App. LEXIS 2828
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMay 20, 1895
DocketNo. 549
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 67 F. 990 (Orr & Lindsley Shoe Co. v. Needles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Orr & Lindsley Shoe Co. v. Needles, 67 F. 990, 15 C.C.A. 142, 1895 U.S. App. LEXIS 2828 (8th Cir. 1895).

Opinion

THAYER, Circuit Judge.

This was a suit which was brought by the plaintiffs in error, the Orr & Lindsley Shoe Company and Baer, Seasongood & Co., against Thomas B. Needles, the United [991]*991States marshal Cor the Indian Territory, and Philip Lewin, for a wrongful levy alleged to have been made by the defendant .Needles, under a writ of attachment, on certain goods and chattels which are said to have been the property of the plaintiffs in error. The evidence in behalf of the plaintiffs tended to show that in November, 1889, W. Scott Cook, who was at the time a merchant doing business in the Indian Territory,;was indebted to the plaintiffs in the sum of about §1,868; that for the purpose of paying said claim, on November SO, 1889, he executed a bill of sale in favor of the plaintiffs, conveying to them a quantity of boots find shoes, and men’s and boys’ clothing estimated to be of the value of about §1,900; that the goods in question formed a part of the vendor’s stock of goods, then situated in Ms store at a place called “Fred,” in the Chickasaw Nation; that the negotiations leading up to the sale were conducted in behalf of the plaintiffs by their traveling salesman John O.' Martin; that the goods were selected by Martin, and inventoried, and that they were thereafter separated from the residue of the vendor’s stock, and were placed on shelves by themselves in the vendor’s store, and were left in charge of the vendor’s brother, David F. Cook, who was empowered to sell the same at retail, and to account to the plaintiffs for the proceeds; that on or about December 16, 1889, the defendant Needles wrongfully seized the goods in question under a writ of attachment issued against W. Scott Cook in favor of certain attaching creditors; that prior to said levy the said W. Scott Cook advised the deputy marshal who was about to make the levy that a portion of the goods in Ms store had been sold and delivered to the plaintiffs. There was further testimony which tended to show that before the levy was made the vendor, Cook, pointed out to the deputy marshal the goods that had been sold by him to the plaintiffs, and their precise location in the store, but that notwithstanding such notice the marshal levied upon the entire stock of goods found in the storeroom, including the plaintiffs’ goods, and took charge thereof, and remained in sole charge of the storeroom and the goods therein contained for some days, and until the store and the goods were totally destroyed by fire. The defendants, on their part, offered testimony wMch tended to show that no bill of sale, such as is above described, had ever been executed by Cook in favor of the plaintiffs, or that, if such bill of sale had been executed, the goods intended to be thereby transferred had not been separated from the residue of the vendor’s stock, but were intermingled therewith, and with other goods of, a like character and quality, so that, even if the bill of sale was in fact made, the agreement was wholly executory, and did not operate to pass title to any goods, as between the vendor and the vendees, much less to transfer title, as between the vendees and an attaching creditor of their vendor. The defendant Needles also offered testimony tending to show that when the levy was made no notice of the alleged sale was in fact given to him, or to his deputy; that no notice of the alleged sale was given prior to the fire, and that there were no marks of any kind on any of the goods; and that no portion of the goods were so separated from the rest as to indicate that they did not belong to the [992]*992defendant in the attachment, and were not a part of the general stock. The testimony being as above indicated, the plaintiffs, at the conclusion of the evidence, moved the court, among other things, to instruct the jury as follows:

“The court instructs you that, although you may believe from the evidence that the goods purchased by plaintiffs were not so marked or designated that the marshal could have distinguished them by inspection or examination, yet if you believe that the marshal had notice of the sale to plaintiffs of the goods sued for, and could have found out which were plaintiffs’ goods, after such notice, then it was the duty of the marshal to have separated plaintiffs’ goods from the remainder of the stock, and not levied on them; and if you find from the evidence that he had such notice, and refused to separate plaintiffs’ goods, but levied on them, your verdict should be for the plaintiffs.”

This request was refused, and tlie plaintiffs duly excepted. 'Thereafter, of its own motion, the court charged the jury as follows:

“But, in order for the sale between these people to have been complete, there must have been a change of possession; that is, there must have been a delivery, either actual or what we call ‘constructive.’ In order for a legal delivery to have been made in this ease, it was the duty of Scott Cook and Martin, the agent of these plaintiffs, to separate or segregate from the whole stock of goods, the amount of goods actually purchased by the plaintiffs for the satisfaction of their debt. And if, therefore, you find that the plaintiffs in this case purchased these goods,—that is, that this man. Scott Cook, agreed with them that they should have so much of these goods to pay their debts,— yet if you find from the evidence in this case that these goods were not separated from the general stock of goods, or so distinguished or marked that the marshal, by inspection and examination, could have told the plaintiffs’ goods from the general goods of the said Scott Cook, in that case plaintiffs could not recover, and you will find for the defendants.”

The same direction, in substance, was repeated in the following instructions, which were likewise given by the court of its own mo■tion:

“If you believe from the evidence in the, case that there was a sale of a part of the goods, but that part 'was not separated from the balance of the stock, and so designated and marked that the marshal, when he went to make his levy, could determine by inspection and examination which were the goods of Scott Cook, and which were the goods of the plaintiffs in this case, in that case you will find for the defendant. So, in this ease, to recapitulate briefly, the issues sharply defined are these: Plaintiffs are entitled to recover if a part of those goods were actually purchased by them in satisfaction of their debts, and those goods were so separated and designated and marked as to distinguish them from the balance of the stock. Defendants are entitled to recover if there was no designation and marks so that the goods could be distinguished.”

We are of the opinion that the instruction first above quoted was applicable to the state of facts which the plaintiffs’ testimony tended to establish, and that it should have been given as requested. We are also of the opinion that the instructions above quoted which were given by the court of its own motion were well calculated to mislead the jury, especially in view of the fact that the court declined to give the aforesaid instruction which was asked by the plaintiffs, or any other instruction of equivalent import. The law is well settled that when an officer, having a writ of execution or attachment to execute, is advised before the levy is made that certain goods of a third person have been mixed with property belonging to the defendant in the execution or attachment, [993]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 F. 990, 15 C.C.A. 142, 1895 U.S. App. LEXIS 2828, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/orr-lindsley-shoe-co-v-needles-ca8-1895.