Stapleton v. Dismukes

159 S.E. 768, 43 Ga. App. 611, 1931 Ga. App. LEXIS 489
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJuly 20, 1931
Docket21039
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 159 S.E. 768 (Stapleton v. Dismukes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stapleton v. Dismukes, 159 S.E. 768, 43 Ga. App. 611, 1931 Ga. App. LEXIS 489 (Ga. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinion

Bell, J.

This was a trover suit brought by F. S. Dismukes against R. L. Stapleton, a warehouseman, to recover four bales of cotton. The defendant filed an answer in which he denied all the allegations of the plaintiff’s petition as to title and conversion, and further averred “that all the cotton plaintiff had in the warehouse which was being operated by this defendant was sold by plaintiff, and he was paid for same quite a little while before the date stated in his petition, and at said time this defendant neither had any of his cotton, nor has he any of his cotton now or any other property belonging to him for which plaintiff is entitled to recover of this defendant.” On the trial the plaintiff elected a money verdict, and the court directed the jury to find in his favor accordingly; whereupon the defendant sued out a bill of exceptions.

The evidence showed that on March 19, 1929, the four bales of cotton were stored in the defendant’s warehouse and that the plaintiff was the owner of the same, holding receipts therefor issued by the defendant. On that day he sold the cotton to the defendant for the aggregate sum of $401.25, which was at the price of 20 cents per pound, and received for this amount the defendant’s check upon the Bank of Weston. The transaction took place at the defendant’s warehouse in the town of Weston, in which the bank was located, but since the bank had then closed for the dajq the plaintiff immediately left for his home in Fitzgerald, Georgia, where he deposited the check in a bank for collection on March 21, [613]*613The Bank of Weston was closed as an insolvent institution on March 29 or 30, before the check was ever presented to it for payment, and the check was then returned to the plaintiff unpaid.

The plaintiff's suit was predicated upon section.4126 of the Civil-Code of 1910, providing that certain products, including cotton, sold by planters and commission merchants on cash sale shall not be considered as the property of the buyer until fully paid for, though delivered to the buyer.

The defendant, who is the plaintiff in error, insists that the action of the court in withdrawing the case from the consideration of the jury and directing a verdict for the plaintiff was erroneous for the following reasons: (1) that even if a finding in the plaintiff's favor was demanded as to other issues, there was still a question as to the value of the cotton which should have been submitted to the jury; (2) that the plaintiff “was relying on the highest proven value for the amount of the recovery, hence was not entitled in law to recover interest,'' the verdict as directed being for the agreed purchase-price of the cotton as evidenced by the check, with interest at 7 per cent, from the date of the sale; (3) that the evidence would have authorized a finding that “it was the intention of both parties that title to the cotton was to pass to Stapleton [the defendant] immediately for the purpose of selling and securing the money to pay the check with,'' and thus that the plaintiff waived the provisions of section 4126; (4) that the evidence presented an issue as to whether the plaintiff exercised proper diligence in the presentation of the check, and as to whether on account of his delay in this regard, and in view of other facts, he should now be estopped from asserting title to the cotton, or at least be treated as having waived the right to claim that the sale was intended as a cash transction; and (5) “that the evidence as a whole did not demand a verdict for the plaintiff,” but would have authorized a verdict for the defendant.

The plaintiff testified that he demanded the cotton of the defendant “about the latter part of March,” and that it was then “worth around twenty cents a pound,” but that he “never noticed the grade.” The plaintiff further testified: “As far as I cared, Mr. Stapleton could ship the cotton out and sell it, and provide the money to meet this draft. That was the way I presumed it would be handled. Bqr several years previous to this I had handled [614]*614the sales of my cotton with Mr. Stapleton the same way, and when the checks were presented to the bank they were always paid. He sold the cotton to any one he wanted to. I do not know why Mr. Stapleton indorsed these cotton receipts. I do not know that was necessary in order for the bank to handle it. . . He told me that he would pay me for the cotton, four bales round lot; we agreed upon that, and Mr. Stapleton gave me this bill of the cotton, check or whatever you might call it, together with the cotton receipts pinned to it, and I then went back home to Fitzgerald. There was no other agreement between myself and Mr. Stapleton. I had no agreement with him as to what he should do with the cotton after he got it. It was a cash transaction, and I expected that cheek or draft to be paid when he gave it to me. If the bank had been open, I would have gone over there and gotten my money immediately. The Bank of Weston was not open after I sold my cotton, and it was after banking hours, and that was the reason I did not present the draft to the Bank of Weston that day. No statement was made to me by Mr. Stapleton as to what he was going to do with the cotton. All I wanted was my money, and that was the whole transaction.”

The defendant testified that he sold the cotton and placed the proceeds in the Bank of Weston, “for the purpose of meeting this check;” and denied that the plaintiff ever demanded the cotton, stating that he merely asked him to pay for it. From all the evidence, it was a necessary inference that, although the proceeds of this cotton were originally placed in the bank for the purpose of meeting the check, it was thereafter withdrawn or applied to the defendant’s benefit in some other way, since, under a proper construction of the defendant’s own testimony, it appears that he had no money in the bank at the time of its failure, and had expected that the check would be paid only because of a special arrangement which he had made with the bank as to the payment of such checks as he would issue in the purchase of cotton. There was ample evidence to show that the bank would have paid the check, in accordance with this arrangement if it had been duly presented before the bank failed.

The agreement between the defendant and the bank in regard to this matter was to the effect that in purchasing cotton on storage with him, the defendant would take up the warehouse receipts [615]*615previously issued therefor, and then indorse the receipts and attach them to checks for the purchase-money, and that the checks would be paid by the bank when the receipts were thus attached. The transaction under investigation was handled in this way; that is to say, the plaintiff at the time of selling the cotton produced the receipts as if to surrender them to the defendant, but the defendant thereupon indorsed'the receipts and attached them to the check which he then and there gave to the plaintiff for the purchase-money. The receipts were thus taken and carried away by the plaintiff, and accompanied the check through the various banks which handled it for collection.

As to this matter the defendant testified as follows: “Mr. Dismukes delivered these cotton receipts to me when I gave him that check, and I attached the receipts to the check, to go to the bank. I did not intend to return the cotton receipts back to Mr. Dismukes; I intended them to follow the check to the bank, so the check would be paid. That was my indorsement to the bank.”

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Bluebook (online)
159 S.E. 768, 43 Ga. App. 611, 1931 Ga. App. LEXIS 489, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stapleton-v-dismukes-gactapp-1931.