Pringle v. King

78 P. 367, 9 Ariz. 76, 1904 Ariz. LEXIS 63
Arizona Supreme Court·Decided October 29, 1904·No. Civil No. 841·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

DAVIS, J.

The appellee, Prank M. King, brought an action in the court below against Robert Pringle to recover the sum of six thousand dollars, which he claimed to be due him for services, as broker, in effecting the sale of certain property of the defendant, consisting of ranches, horses, and cattle. The complaint contained two counts, in the first of which it was alleged that “the defendant agreed with the plaintiff that plaintiff should have the right, power, and authority to negotiate and sell the said ranches, horses, and cattle for such price as the plaintiff might be able to effect, and that the plaintiff was authorized to sell the said property for any price in excess of fifty thousand dollars, and the defendant agreed that the plaintiff should have and receive from him, as compensation for negotiating such sale, such sum of money as the said property should be sold for above said sum of fifty thousand dollars; that thereafter, between the months of January, 1902, and May 19, 1902, he found purchasers for said property, viz., W. A. and A. L. Hobson and Jos. E. Wise, to whom the defendant sold the said property, as a result of the negotiations of plaintiff as aforesaid, for the sum of fifty-six thousand dollars, which said sum the defendant received as the proceeds of the sale thereof; whereby the said defendant became liable to the plaintiff in the sum of six thousand dollars.” The second count alleged that “the plaintiff and defendant contracted together that the said plaintiff should negotiate and sell [78] the said property, and that, in event the same should be sold, the defendant agreed to pay to the plaintiff, as a broker, for selling the same, such sum of money as his services were reasonably worth, and the usual compensation to brokers in such transactions; that plaintiff . . . furnished and produced to the defendant a buyer for the said property, and the said property was sold to "W. A. and A. L. Hobson and Jos. E. Wise, and the said defendant received as the purchase price for said property the sum of fifty-six thousand dollars; that thereby, then and there, the said defendant became liable to plaintiff for his compensation as broker as aforesaid the usual percentage for such transactions and the amount which plaintiff’s services were reasonably worth; and that said services so rendered as aforesaid were worth the amount of six thousand dollars.” The answer was a general denial of the allegations of the complaint. The cause was tried before a jury. At the close of his evidence, the plaintiff elected to rely upon the quantum meruit count of his complaint, and the trial thenceforth proceeded upon that basis. The jury returned a verdict in the plaintiff’s favor for the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars, and the court entered a judgment in accordance with the verdict. From this judgment the defendant appeals.

It is claimed that the trial court erred in the admission of evidence offered by the plaintiff over the defendant’s objection, and several specifications are made. The court followed the rule laid down in Willard v. Carrigan, 8 Ariz. 70, 68 Pac. 538, and did not require the plaintiff to elect in advance, upon which of the two counts contained in the complaint he would proceed, and it thus occurred that some evidence was introduced which properly tended to support one count, but which was irrelevant and immaterial to the other. In order to effect the exclusion of such evidence from the jury, or to avail himself of an adverse ruling thereon, there should have been a motion by the defendant to strike it out, following the plaintiff’s election of the count upon which he would rely. No such motion was made, however. A copy of a certain letter which the plaintiff testified to having received from the defendant during the period of his alleged agency was admitted, over an objection that a sufficient foundation had not been laid for [79] the introduction of the secondary evidence. As to this point, however, the record satisfies us that the copy was properly admitted, and it is noteworthy that the defendant, when on the witness-stand, made no attempt to deny the authenticity of the letter. A certain exhibit was introduced in evidence hy the plaintiff, which was in the words and figures following, to wit:—

“Pay $50,000.
“$10,000 down in cash, bal. in six months.
“Turn in to Pringle money on cdttle sold or shipped as follows:
1 yr. steers......................................$13
2 “ “ ......................................$16
3 “ “ $19
1 “ heifers...................................$11
2 “ “ .......................................$12
Cows 3 & up....................................$13
Bulls..........................................$10
Cows & calves..................................$19
“Will give five days to accept above deal.
“Globe 4-28-02. Robert Pringle.”

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Pringle v. King, 78 P. 367, 9 Ariz. 76, 1904 Ariz. LEXIS 63 (Ark. 1904).

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