Taylor v. Wright

159 P.2d 980, 69 Cal. App. 2d 371, 1945 Cal. App. LEXIS 671
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 29, 1945
DocketCiv. 12701
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 159 P.2d 980 (Taylor v. Wright) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. Wright, 159 P.2d 980, 69 Cal. App. 2d 371, 1945 Cal. App. LEXIS 671 (Cal. Ct. App. 1945).

Opinions

PETERS, P. J.

Plaintiff, Emma Foy Taylor, brought this action against Marie A. Wright and Allen J. Wright, mother and son, and others, to recover damages for fraud alleged to have been committed by defendants in buying 3,750 shares of stock owned by her in the Commonwealth Acceptance Corporation at less than its actual value. The jury returned a verdict for compensatory damages in the sum of $4,250, exemplary damages in the sum of $500, and interest in the sum of $1,912.50. From the judgment based on these verdicts the Wrights appeal.

This ease has been tried twice. In the first trial plaintiff obtained a verdict of $6,462.50, and the trial judge added, interest of $3,153.75. Defendants’ motion for a new trial based on insufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict was granted.

Appellants’ main contention on this appeal is that the evidence is insufficient, as a matter of law, to sustain the judgment. They urge that their motions for a nonsuit and directed verdict should have been granted, and request this court, under section 629 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to order judgment to be entered for them. It is also contended that the action is barred by the statute of limitations, and that it was error to instruct the jury that in its discretion it might award exemplary damages and interest in this action.

So' far as the question of the sufficiency of the evidence is concerned, when the proper basis of liability is ascertained, [374]*374we are presented with, the usual fact case. As will tie later pointed out, under the facts, the Wrights owed a duty of disclosure to the respondent. Mrs. Taylor produced evidence, which if believed by the jury, as it was, shows that the Wrights violated that duty and that she was damaged thereby. The appellants produced evidence, which if believed by the jury, which it was not, would have supported implied findings of honesty and fair dealing. In such a case it is for the jury, and the trial judge in passing on the motion for a new trial, to pass upon the credibility of the witnesses. It is not for the appellate court to determine where the truth lies. The appellate court has no power to weigh the evidence. The appellants, by emphasizing certain evidence, and by disregarding certain other evidence, particularly certain legitimate and reasonable inferences from the evidence which they characterize as mere “conjecture” and “surmise,” make a quite persuasive argument that the evidence is insufficient to support the judgment. When the entire record is considered, however, we are convinced that the implied findings of the jury are supported by substantial evidence and by legitimate and reasonable inferences from that evidence.

Although the rules applicable to the power of the appellate courts in passing upon the sufficiency of the evidence are elementary and have been frequently stated, in view of the apparent sincerity with which appellants contend that the evidence is insufficient, it would appear proper to refer briefly to such rules before pointing out the evidence that supports the judgment. In Crawford v. Southern Pacific Co., 3 Cal.2d 427, 429 [45 P.2d 183], these rules are briefly stated as follows: “In reviewing the evidence on such an appeal all conflicts must be resolved in favor of the respondent, and all legitimate and reasonable inferences indulged in to uphold the verdict if possible. It is an elementary, but often overlooked, principle of law that when a verdict is attacked as being unsupported, the power of the appellate court begins and ends with a determination as to whether there is any substantial evidence, contradicted or uncontradicted, which will support the conclusion reached by the jury. When two or more inferences can be reasonably deduced from the facts, the reviewing court is without power to substitute its deductions for those of the trial court.” (See, also, Albaugh v. Mt. Shasta Power Corp., 9 Cal.2d 751 [73 P.2d 217]; Bellon v. Silver Gates Theatres, Inc., 4 Cal.2d 1 [47 P.2d 462]; Raggio v. Mallory, [375]*37510 Cal.2d 723 [76 P.2d 660]; Estate of Bristol, 23 Cal.2d 221 [143 P.2d 689]; Juchert v. California Water Service Co., 16 Cal.2d 500 [106 P.2d 886]; Peri v. Los Angeles Junction Ry., 22 Cal.2d 111 [137 P.2d 441]; Atherley v. Market St. Ry. Co., 42 Cal.App.2d 354 [108 P.2d 927]; Estate of Pessagno, 58 Cal.App.2d 390 [136 P.2d 644]; Laherty v. Connell, 64 Cal. App.2d 355 [148 P.2d 895].)

Applying these well settled rules to the record before us, the following facts appear. The respondent is a widow, aged 77 years. She had purchased 3,750 shares of stock in the Commonwealth Acceptance Corporation in 1928 or 1929 for $15,000, from a Miss Cousins, who introduced her to Mr. Lester Johnson, president of the company. Johnson is a brother-in-law of appellant Allen Wright, and was president of the company during all times here pertinent. He was originally named as a defendant but was granted a nonsuit at the first trial. The trial court excluded evidence of the content of many conversations respondent had with Johnson relating to her stock, and relating to the transaction here challenged, but sufficient was admitted to show that respondent had implicit faith in Johnson and relied upon him for advice. It also appears that Johnson and appellant Allen Wright were the two executives of the company and actually ran the company. They frequently discussed the company affairs during all times here pertinent. Mrs. Wright was a large stockholder of the company. She was a director as was her son Allen Wright. Allen Wright was also a stockholder and an officer, being secretary. From 1933 through 1936 Mrs. Wright began to buy additional stock in the company, and by the end of 1936 she owned about half the issued stock.

The Commonwealth Acceptance Corporation is a Delaware company with its principal and only office in Oakland, California. The company was originally organized in 1925 to handle automobile financing. Later, and starting about 1931, it began to deal in stocks, and ultimately its greatest business was in the investment field. One of the securities it began to purchase in 1931 was Shell Union stock. By December of 1935 the Shell stock had appreciated in value over $80,000—that is, had the Shell stock been sold it would have brought in an $80,000 profit to the company.

The company through its board of directors, the two defendants and Johnson constituting a majority of the board, [376]*376stopped paying dividends in 1931, the last dividend being paid in October of 1931. Bach year, about March or April, the company issued to its stockholders a financial statement for the preceding year. The statement of 1933 showed a net profit of $86.35 for the year’s operation. That for 1934, issued in March 1935, showed a net loss of $3,615.53.

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Bluebook (online)
159 P.2d 980, 69 Cal. App. 2d 371, 1945 Cal. App. LEXIS 671, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-wright-calctapp-1945.