Weatherford v. Hanger

146 P. 759, 16 Ariz. 427, 1915 Ariz. LEXIS 157
Arizona Supreme Court·Decided March 9, 1915·No. Civil No. 1397·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

CUNNING-HAM, J.

It is the duty of the trial court to declare the law applicable to the state of facts disclosed by the evidence upon the trial. The jury must decide the facts and render a verdict in accordance with the law as declared by the court applicable to the -facts found. In this case it became the duty of the court to instruct the jury that, before they could find for plaintiff, they must be satisfied from a preponderance of the evidence that plaintiff and defendant entered into a contract on the terms and conditions substantially as set forth in the complaint. This was declaring the elementary rule of law requiring the proof to correspond to the allegations of the complaint and the rule of quantum of proof to sustain the plaintiff’s burden justifying a verdict.

It was likewise the duty of the court to declare the legal effect of the contract, if the jury determined the contract pleaded was entered into, and to instruct as to the liability imposed by the contract. The charge, as given, is to the effect [431] that, if the jury believe from a preponderance of the evidence that the parties entered into the contract, then they must find for the plaintiff such damages as they determine he has suffered ; and, on the other hand, if they find that the weight of evidence of the making of the contract does not preponderate in favor of the plaintiff, they must find for the defendant. In fairness to the parties, the trial court should make clear to the jury the issues on trial and the rules of law applicable to the evidence, controlling their deliberations.

The instruction, as given, may be criticised as approaching the limits in brevity, but it cannot be said that the charge was erroneous. Appellant does not complain of the charge as erroneous, but he does complain of its brevity; that is, of a failure or omission to instruct further. Appellant does not claim that he requested in writing further instructions, and that such request was refused. Such procedure is allowed by paragraph 516, Civil Code of 1913. Refusal by the court to give an instruction requested in writing is an adverse ruling, and becomes a part of the record of the case, and is deemed excepted to at the time, without formal exceptions, and is subject to revision by this court for error. Paragraph 601, Civ. Code 1913. Matters occurring at the trial not formally excepted to or deemed excepted to, at the time, are no part of the record, unless made such, nor subjects of review as a general rule. Certainly an instruction believed by counsel to be beneficial to a party’s cause, but not requested in writing, not made a part of the record of the case, and not excepted to formally or otherwise, brought to the attention of the trial court, could not be complained of for the first time on appeal. The matter complained of is no part of the record before this court, and the assignment of a failure to instruct further upon a particular question presents no record for consideration, nor question for review.

The second assignment can he considered only in so far as it may be construed as an assignment to the effect that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict of the jury. Por a decision of this ease we will concede that the assignment has that effect. The evidence of the plaintiff is to the following .effect:

He owned ten acres of land. He fixed a price for which he was willing to sell. Defendant was introduced to him as a [432] possible buyer. The matter was talked over, and defendant wanted plaintiff to take stock of the Overland Telephone and Telegraph Company in exchange for the land. Plaintiff required time to consider the matter of taking the stock. The defendant offered testimony that plaintiff said, “I am not in need of the money, if I can get something just as good as money, ’ ’ and that he said he would investigate the matter, and later let defendant know what he would do about accepting the stock. Plaintiff did not deny this statement attributed to him. Plaintiff testified that after a day or two he and defendant had a further talk about the matter at plaintiff’s house, where plaintiff said: “I will take bonds for this property, but I won’t want your stock.” Defendant replied: “I haven’t got but one bond; I will let you havejhat.” After an extended conversation, defendant returned to the subject, and said: ‘ ‘ This stock, Mr. Hanger, is worth 50 cents a share, and I will guarantee after the election is over that it will be worth 65 cents a share.” Plaintiff said: “If you will let me have the bond and the stock to the amount of $4,200, why, I guess we will call it a trade.” Plaintiff testifies: “So we made the trade, and it was made on his guarantee that the stock was now worth 50 cents, and it would be worth 65 cents after the election.” On further examination plaintiff was asked: “What was the inducement to you to make this trade, Mr. Hanger?” He answered: “It was simply I wanted to get rid of this property, and I wanted to get rid of it at what it was worth, . . . and he being one of the directors, and representing this company to be as he said it was, and then the talk that he had relative to the value of the stock at that time, and then the guaranty he put upon it that it would be worth 65 cents soon after the election—that was the inducement that caused me to take the stock.”

The testimony of plaintiff’s wife in a measure corroborated plaintiff’s testimony of the conversation had at plaintiff’s house.

Defendant’s version of the transaction is as follows:

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Weatherford v. Hanger, 146 P. 759, 16 Ariz. 427, 1915 Ariz. LEXIS 157 (Ark. 1915).

146 P. 759 (Weatherford v. Hanger) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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