Spades v. Murray

28 N.E. 709, 2 Ind. App. 401, 1891 Ind. App. LEXIS 187
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 1, 1891
DocketNo. 321
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 28 N.E. 709 (Spades v. Murray) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spades v. Murray, 28 N.E. 709, 2 Ind. App. 401, 1891 Ind. App. LEXIS 187 (Ind. Ct. App. 1891).

Opinion

Robinson, J.

The appellee commenced this action against the appellant.

The complaint is in three paragraphs. The first paragraph in the complaint alleges that appellant did, on the 15th day of September, 1888, lease, in writing, to the appellee, the premises therein described, in the city of Indianapolis ; that by the terms of the lease it expired on the 15th day of September, 1889 ; that before the lease expired, and while the appellee was in possession, the appellant forcibly and wrongfully entered the premises, and by his direction and under his authority divers persons tore said premises down, and altered the same, thereby throwing down dust and debris upon the goods of the appellee then in said premises, thereby injuring, damaging, and destroying said goods. The paragraph sets out an itemized account of damages, and demands judgment, etc.

The second paragraph sets up the same lease, and the terms thereof, and alleges an agreement between appellee and appellant that the appellee might hold the premises until after the State fair, to be held in 1889, upon the same terms as in the written lease ; but that appellant, after said written lease had been extended, and while the agreement [403]*403was in force, forcibly and wrongfully entered on the premises and tore down, etc., causing damage and injury to appellee’s personal property. An itemized account of damages is set out, as in the first paragraph, and plaintiff demands judgment, etc.

The third paragraph pleads the same lease, alleges the same extension of time, wrongful entry on the 13th day of September, 1889, before the expiration of the written lease, and wrongful possession continuously thereafter until the close of the State fair, injury to personal property, and injury to the appellee’s business, which is specially alleged, and demand for judgment, etc.

A copy of the lease was made a part of the complaint.

The appellant answered in three paragraphs: 1. General denial. 2. License. 3. Pleads an agreement.

The paragraph pleading license is as follows, viz.:

“And for a further and second paragraph of answer to said complaint the defendant says that said plaintiff ought not to have or maintain this action against him, because, he says, that he, the said defendant, at the said several times when the plaintiff alleges himself to have been damaged, as set forth in said complaint, this defendant, by leave and license of the said plaintiff to him for that purpose first expressly given and granted, began, made and completed certain necessary repairs to the premises mentioned in the complaint, as he lawfully might do under plaintiff’s express leave and license aforesaid, and not otherwise; and defendant states that no injury, other than that necessary for the doing and making of said repairs, hath come to plaintiff by reason of the supposed damages in the complaint mentioned.”

And the agreement set up in the third paragraph is as follows, viz.:

“And, for a third paragraph of answer to the complaint herein, said defendant says that it is true, before the expiration of the lease in the complaint set out, a new agreement was made to cover the time of the State fair, then about to [404]*404be held in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, and upon these terms, to wit: It was mutually agreed and understood by and between the plaintiff and the defendant herein, on or about the 12th day of September, 1889, that if the said plaintiff would permit this defendant to enter upon the said premises and make certain specified and necessary repairs, said plaintiff might continue in the possession of said premises during the continuance of said fair without other compensation or consideration; and said plaintiff did so remain in possession of said premises in pursuance of said agreement, and not under any other or different contract; and it was under and by reason of said agreement that this defendant entered upon said premises and made said necessary repairs.”

Appellee replied by general denial to the answers.

The appellant filed a counter-claim, claiming damages against the appellee for waste and destruction of the leased premises in the sum of $2,100, and to the counter-claim the appellee answered by general denial. And upon the issues thus formed the cause was tried and submitted to a jury, who returned a verdict for the appellee in the sum of $500.

The appellant filed his motion for a new trial, which was overruled and exception taken, and judgment was rendered on the verdict. The evidence is in the record.

The first contention of the appellant is, that the court erred in the second instruction given to the jury of its own motion, that the instruction did not present the law of this case, and was not within the issues. The instruction is as follows, viz.:

Second. The defendant specially answers admitting the entry and the making of the alterations, and says affirmatively that it was on the express leave and license of the plaintiff. The burden of establishing that defence, of course, rests upon the defendant, and must be shown by a preponderance of the evidence. If it is shown, it is a complete de[405]*405fence to the plaintiff’s claim for damages for the entry, unless you further find that after the defendant, obtained entrance into the premises, and entered upon the prosecution of the purpose for which he had leave to enter, he departed from that purpose, went beyond it, and committed trespass beyond the terms of the license by which he was authorized to enter. If he went beyond the extent of the repairs contemplated by the license under which he entered, exceeded his authority, and did greater damage to the defendant’s building than by the terms of his license he was entitled to, he would, by that exercise of wrongful acts after the entry, become a trespasser from the beginning, and would be there as if he had no license at all, and would be liable to the plaintiff for any damages that he sustained. In other words, the license would avail him nothing if he did not pursue its terms, and confine himself within its limits.”

That part of the instruction which, under the facts therein stated, charged the jury that the appellant would “become a trespasser from the beginning, and would be there as if he had.no license at all, and would be liable to the plaintiff for any damage that he had sustained. In other words, the license would avail him nothing if he did not pursue its terms, and confine himself within its limits,” — was clearly erroneous.

License is an authority, or privilege, given to one by the law, or by the party, to enter, or to do an act, or series of acts, upon the land of another, and may exist either in law or in fact.

"Where an entry, authority or license is given any one by the law and he abuses it, he becomes a trespasser ab initio ; but where an entry, authority, or license is given by the party, and he abuses it, then he must be punished for his abuse, but will not be a trespasser ab initio.

Under the second paragraph of the answer, it is alleged that appellant entered in pursuance of express license and authority from the appellee, and not under an authority con[406]*406ferred by law.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 N.E. 709, 2 Ind. App. 401, 1891 Ind. App. LEXIS 187, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spades-v-murray-indctapp-1891.