Prusa v. Cooper

1951 OK 349, 238 P.2d 342, 205 Okla. 423, 1951 Okla. LEXIS 689
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 4, 1951
DocketNo. 34689
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1951 OK 349 (Prusa v. Cooper) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Prusa v. Cooper, 1951 OK 349, 238 P.2d 342, 205 Okla. 423, 1951 Okla. LEXIS 689 (Okla. 1951).

Opinion

O’NEAL, J.

Stella Prusa sued R. L. Cooper and Cleo Stout in the district court of Noble county to recover damages for an alleged breach of the terms of a written lease contract. In the trial the court sustained a demurrer of the defendant Stout to plaintiff’s evidence and the action as to Stout was dismissed. A jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant Cooper. The appeal alleges error in the dismissal of the action as to the defendant Stout, and error in the rendition of a judgment in favor of the defendant Cooper. The assignments of error will be noted in the further consideration of the record.

An amended petition was filed in which plaintiff, in her first cause of action, alleged that she was the owner of described lots in the city of Perry upon which was located a building 50 feet wide by 150 feet long, which was commonly used as a garage; that in February, 1944, she entered into a written lease agreement with the defendant Cooper for a term of five years, under which agreement Cooper agreed to pay monthly rentals at $40 per month for the first three years, and $50 per month for the last two years of the lease contract; that said lease provided that Cooper should not assign the lease or sublet the premises, or any part thereof, without the consent of plaintiff; that shortly after taking possession of the garage building the defendant Cooper, without plaintiff’s consent, subleased a portion of the garage to one Pilkington who conducted a welding business therein; that the defendant Cooper subleased the rear half of the garage to the defendant Stout, who used the space for the storage of drums of oil and grease and automobile accessories. Plaintiff pleads said subleasing was a breach of the terms of the lease, and that the joint occupancy of the garage by Pilkington and the defendants, Cooper and Stout, resulted in injury to her property over and beyond the usual wear and tear of the occupancy provided for in the lease. These damages are itemized, and for which plaintiff prays a recovery in the sum of $3,250.

In plaintiff’s second cause of action it is alleged that under the sublease which defendant entered into with Pil-kington, the welder, defendant Cooper received a monthly rental of $125 per month; that said Pilkington occupied the premises from April 1, 1944, to November 1, 1946; that under the sublease agreement entered into by the defendant Cooper he collected rentals from the defendant Stout in the sum of $125 during the five year term of the written lease contract referred to, and that the rentals so collected by the defendant Cooper are as money had and received for plaintiff’s benefit, for which she prays an accounting and a recovery in the sum of $3,410 against each defendant.

The answers of the defendants, Cooper and Stout, are in the form of general denials. As indicated, the defendant Stout was dismissed from the case upon his demurrer to the plaintiff’s evi[425]*425dence, and a jury returned its verdict in favor of the defendant Cooper. The appeal brings both the order of dismissal and the judgment here for review.

Plaintiff’s assignments of error may properly be considered under her allegation that the judgments below are not sustained by the evidence, and are contrary to law.

A consideration of plaintiff’s evidence in support of her first cause of action leads us to the conclusion that there was a total failure of proof to support the allegations of damages to the garage property as claimed in her first cause of action.

As plaintiff was the sole witness in her own behalf, we will present her testimony at some length. Her first item of damages, as alleged in her petition, covered a broken plate glass window. On direct examination she testified the cost of replacement was the sum of $300, but on cross-examination she admitted that the defendant Cooper, at the expiration of his lease, replaced the plate glass window at his cost.

■ The defendant Cooper had constructed a drain rack in the garage to service automobiles. Plaintiff claimed damages to the garage by reason of this construction in the sum of $300 and so testified. But plaintiff admitted on cross-examination she requested that the drain remain in the garage as it might be useful in future garage operations.

Plaintiff claimed damages to the front outside wall of the building in the sum of $200, claiming defendant Cooper drilled holes in the wall to hang signs.

Plaintiff claimed an item of damage in the sum of $300 for additional fire insurance premiums which she claimed arose out of the increased premiums payable by reason of defendant Stout having stored grease and oil in the back portion of the garage. No evidence was introduced as to the premiums previously paid, or the increase,' if any, by reason of extra premiums charged.

Plaintiff claims her damage to the cement floor in the garage, as shown by her petition, was the sum of $500 without any proof showing the condition of the cement floor before Cooper’s occupancy and after his vacation of the premises. Plaintiff was asked:

“Q. How much damage was done to the floor, if any? A. You mean state the amount. Q. If you know, yes. A. Well, I imagine around $1,000.”

No other evidence was offered in support of the alleged damages.

With reference to plaintiff’s claim of damages to the roof of the garage which she claims were occasioned by the defendant Cooper attaching a lift to a rafter and using the lift in hoisting automobile engines out of automobiles, thereby damaging the roof of the garage, plaintiff testified that she had the roof repaired at a cost of $1,000, but that the roof again came down and she had the same work done at another cost of $1,000; that these repairs were made in the year 1949, the last repair being made in July of that year and five months after the defendant’s lease expired. Whatever probative value this testimony might have produced, it was deemed sufficient by the trial court to put defendant Cooper to a response thereto.

The defendant’s testimony fully established the fact that no holes were drilled by him, or other occupants of the premises, on the outer wall of the garage building, but that the wall contained two sets of iron hooks which were embedded in the wall when he took possession of the garage, and which hooks were used by him to hang signs on. Defendant’s testimony further discloses that he replaced the broken plate glass window in the front of the garage at his cost in the sum of $48, and that he left the auto drain at plaintiff’s specific request; that there was no damage to the cement floor, other [426]*426than the usual wear and tear occasioned by its use as a garage.

One other witness testified that he was acquainted with the garage for some years, it having been constructed by his father;' that he was frequently in the garage both before the lease and afterwards, and that the floor was not damaged other than might be anticipated from its use in the repair of automobiles.

The lease contract provided that plaintiff should keep the roof of the garage in repair. That the roof leaked, more or less, at all times during Cooper’s tenancy is fully established by the evidence.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1951 OK 349, 238 P.2d 342, 205 Okla. 423, 1951 Okla. LEXIS 689, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/prusa-v-cooper-okla-1951.