State ex rel. Niece v. Soale

74 N.E. 1111, 36 Ind. App. 73, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 151
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided June 27, 1905·No. No. 5,413·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

Comstock, J.

This action was brought by relator under §7288 Burns 1901, §5323 R. S. 1881, on a liquor dealer’s bond executed under §7279 Burns 1901, §5315 R. S. 1881, against the principal and sureties on said bond, to recover for the damage to himself, alleged to have been caused by the principal by the sale of liquor to one Carrington, and relator’s father, while they were both intoxicated, whereby it is alleged relator’s father was killed and relator injured in his means of support. The amended complaint shows that after the commencement of the suit Charles L. Markin, the principal on the bond, died, and his administrator was substituted as defendant. The bond is made part of the complaint by exhibit. A demurrer was sus[75] tamed to said amended complaint, and, relator refusing to plead further, judgment was rendered on the demurrer in favor of appellees for cost.

Upon this ruling of the court the relator asks that the judgment be reversed.

1. The complaint alleges that Charles L. Markin sold intoxicating liquor to one Carrington while both Niece, relator’s father, and Carrington were intoxicated, and that on account of said intoxication said Niece and Carrington quarrelled, and Carrington shot and killed Niece; that said relator, Wesley S. Niece, was born two months after the death of his father, and was dependent upon his said father for support; that his said father was able-bodied, in good health and capable of earning a living for the relator.

The bond was in the form required by §7279, supra, and provided that Markin should keep an orderly and peaceable house, pay all fines and costs that might be assessed against him for any violations of the provisions of this act, and pay all judgments of civil damages growing out of unlawful sales that may be assessed against him.

Section twenty of "An act to regulate and license the sale of spirituous, vinous and malt and other intoxicating liquors,” etc., approved March 17, 1875 (Acts 1875 [s. s.], p. 55, §7288 Burns 1901, §5323 R. S. 1881), is as-follows: "Every person who shall sell, barter, or give away any intoxicating liquors, in violation of any of the provisions of this act, shall be personally liable, and also liable on his bond filed in the auditor’s office, as required by section four of this act, to any person who shall sustain any injury or damage to his person or property or means of support on account of the use of such intoxicating liquors, so sold as aforesaid, to be enforced by appropriate action in any court of competent jurisdiction.” ■ Section fifteen of said act (Acts 1875 [s. s.], p. 55) is in these words: "Any person who shall sell, barter, or give away any spirituous, [76] vinous or malt liquors to any person at the time in a state of intoxication, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum not less than $10 nor more than $50.”

It was held by the Supreme Court in Mulcahey v. Givens (1888), 115 Ind. 286, 288, that' section twenty is to be construed as if it read: “Every person who shall [sell,] barter or give away any spirituous, vinous or malt liquors to any person at the time in a state of intoxication, shall be personally liable, and also liable on his bond * * * to any person who shall sustain any injury or damage to his person or property, or means of support, on account of the use of such intoxicating liquors.” Continuing the court said: “As thus construed, the right to prosecute a civil action under that section for the sale of alcoholic liquors to a person in a state of intoxication was neither abridged nor taken away by the subsequent enactment of §2092 R. S. 1881 [§2188 Burns 1901].” So that §7288, supra, gives a remedy against the saloon-keeper personally and against the saloon-keeper and his sureties on his official bond, and the remedies are distinct, and the person has his choice between them. Wall v. State, ex rel. (1894), 10 Ind. App. 530 ; Brandt v. State, ex rel. (1897), 17 Ind. App. 311.

2. The liability of the principal and sureties on the bond given under the provisions of §7279, supra, is not destroyed by the death of the principal. Moriarty v. Bartlett (1884), 34 Hun 272.

3. The act alleged to have caused the breach of the contract is an act for which the wrongdoer may also be liable ex delicto. In Homire v. Halfman (1901), 156 Ind. 470, in which numerous cases are collected upon the various questions arising upon the statute under consideration, the Supreme Court held that where a saloon-keeper sold intoxicating liquors to a person who was at the time intoxicated, in consequence of which sale the latter became so crazed that he committed murder, and was sent [77] to the penitentiary, the wife of the intoxicated person may maintain an action against the saloon-keeper, under sections fifteen and twenty of the act of 1875, supra, for the loss of means of support.

4. That an infant is deprived of its means of support hy the wrongful killing of its father must be conceded. Wall v. State, ex rel., supra; Brandt v. State, ex rel., supra.

It follows that it only remains to determine whether an infant born two months after the death of its father is injured by such wrongful killing. In support of the proposition that the beneficiary in the case at bar can not maintain an action for injury received by him before birth appellee cites Allaire v. St. Luke’s Hospital (1900), 184 Ill. 359, 56 N. E. 638, 48 L. R. A. 225, 75 Am. St. 176; Dietrich v. Inhabitants of Northampton (1884), 138 Mass. 14, 52 Am. Rep. 242; Gorman v. Budlong (1901), 23 R. I. 169, 49 Atl. 704, 55 L. R. A. 118, 91 Am. St. 629.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State ex rel. Niece v. Soale, 74 N.E. 1111, 36 Ind. App. 73, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 151 (Ind. Ct. App. 1905).

74 N.E. 1111 (State ex rel. Niece v. Soale) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

K.E.F.V. v. Islamic Republic of Iran
135 F.4th 988 (D.C. Circuit, 2025)
LaBlue v. Specker
100 N.W.2d 445 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1960)
Tuttle v. Short
288 P. 524 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1930)
Massachusetts Bonding & Insurance v. State ex rel. Gary
131 N.E. 398 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1921)
Phair v. Dumond
156 N.W. 637 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1916)
Koski v. Pakkala
141 N.W. 793 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1913)
American Surety Co. v. State ex rel. Holtam
90 N.E. 99 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1909)
State ex rel. Dark v. Mann
86 N.E. 976 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1909)