Silver v. Smith

106 Ill. App. 411, 1902 Ill. App. LEXIS 269
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided November 1, 1902·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Mr. Presiding Justice Wright

delivered the opinion of the court.

Appellees sued the appellant and William M. Silver upon an injunction bond given to them, upon which appellant was surety only. A recovery, by the verdict of a jury, was had for $201 damages, and the court having overruled appellant’s motion for a new trial, gave judgment for the penalty of the bond and the damages, the former to be satisfied by payment of the damages. To reverse this judgment appellant has brought her appeal to this court, insisting that the court erred in sustaining the demurrer to several of her pleas; that the verdict is contrary to the law and the evidence of the case, and the court gave improper instructions. Upon the examination of the various pleas in the case, those to which the demurrer was sustained and those upon which issues were formed and the trial had, in view of the nature of the case, and the evidence introduced upon the trial, we think that if error was contained in the ruling of the court upon the pleas, that such error did appellant no harm, for the reason that appellant upon the trial had the full benefit, under the pleas upon which the . trial was had, of all proper matters of defense contained in the pleas to which the demurrer was sustained, and it would therefore be useless for us to take up the several pleas to discuss the questions arising upon them.

The bond sued upon was given by William M. Silver, with appellant as surety, in a suit in equity by the former against appellees. Appellee Johannah Smith owned the legal title to a house and lot, which she and her husband, .James S. Smith, claimed to occupy as a homestead. This. property had been conveyed by Silver to them, and he, it seems, had retained the possession of and occupied a part of the house. The Smiths sued Silver before appellee Snyder, a justice of the peace, in forcible detainer, and had obtained judgment to dispossess him of the rooms he so occupied. The bill in equity was for an injunction against the execution of such judgment, and to set aside the conveyance of Silver to Smith on the ground of fraud. A preliminary injunction was ordered by a judge of the Circuit Court, conditioned that the complainant in the bill would file bond duly conditioned, with sufficient surety, in the penal sum of $300, but made no reference by whom such bond was to be approved. The bond was accepted by the clerk 'without approval by the judge, and the writ of injunction issued. The bond was executed to all the defendants in the bill as obligees, James S. Smith, Johannah Smith and F. M. Snyder, and was conditioned that William M. Silver, the complainant in the bill, and his surety, should pay or cause to be paid to James S. Smith and Johannah Smith all such costs and damages as should be awarded against the complainant in case the injunction should be dissolved, otherwise the obligation should be void.

When the cause of the bill came on for hearing it was dismissed by the complainant, and the injunction consequently dissolved. Ho damages were suggested or assessed in the equity case. The damages claimed upon the trial were for the costs of the injunction suit, including solicitor’s fees and the loss of the use of the part of the house occupied by Silver during the pendency of the injunction, such occupancy having been for nearly eighteen months. The rental value of the rooms was variously estimated bjr the witnesses, same of them as high as $10 per month, and the value of the solicitor’s fees, confined to the injunction, for the services to obtain its dissolution, was estimated as high as $75. It was in evidence that a motion to dissolve the injunction had been made and denied by the court, and that the defendants had made all necessary preparation for the hearing, at the time the bill was dismissed, it having been before that time referred to a master, who had taken the evidence and reported it to the court, together with his conclusions.

From the facts we have stated, and others contained in the record unnecessary to recite, we are of the opinion the amount of damages contained in the verdict that was returned, is amply supported by the evidence. In truth the damages might have been greater, and there would be no just ground of complaint. We are unwilling to disturb the verdict on the ground it is unsupported by the evidence.

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Silver v. Smith, 106 Ill. App. 411, 1902 Ill. App. LEXIS 269 (Ill. Ct. App. 1902).

106 Ill. App. 411 (Silver v. Smith) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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