York Ice Machinery Corp. v. Griffith

165 S.E. 209, 175 Ga. 441, 1932 Ga. LEXIS 267
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedAugust 15, 1932
DocketNo. 8648
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 165 S.E. 209 (York Ice Machinery Corp. v. Griffith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
York Ice Machinery Corp. v. Griffith, 165 S.E. 209, 175 Ga. 441, 1932 Ga. LEXIS 267 (Ga. 1932).

Opinion

Beck, P. J.

(After stating the foregoing facts.)

The motion for a new trial contains the usual general grounds. An amendment to the motion contains additional grounds. Several of them assign error upon portions of the court’s instructions to the jury; and one assigns error on the court’s failure to charge the jury on the question of the extent of the liability of the defendant in the event it was found from the evidence that there were any defects or deficient parts in the machinery which caused or tended to cause the plant to produce less than the quantity of ice specified in the guaranties, and particularly for failing to instruct the jury that, in the event defects or deficiencies were found to exist, the liability of the defendant would be limited, under the terms of the contract, to repairing such defects or deficiencies,. or the expense of repairing them. Upon examination of the charges excepted to, the court is of the opinion that they sufficiently stated the issues dealt with, and were not erroneous for any of the reasons assigned.

The last ground of the motion for a new trial is as follows: “That on the trial of said case, and before the jury retired to consider of their verdict, and before the trial judge began charging said jury in said case, counsel for the defendant, in writing, requested the trial judge to instruct the jury as follows: ‘If you find that Mr. Griffith signed the letter of November 6th, 1928, accepting the ice plant, then I charge you that under the pleadings and evidence in this case you need go no further in your consideration of the case, but should find for the defendant in the amount claimed on the notes, — that amount being $2,378.80 with interest thereon at 6 per cent, from June 6th, 1928, the date of the notes;’ and also before the jury retired to consider of their verdict, and [446]*446before the trial judge began his instructions to the jury, counsel for the defendant, in writing, requested the trial judge to instruct the jury as follows, to wit: ‘The defendant claims that the plaintiff, Mr. Griffith, accepted the ice plant installed by it under the contract, and in support of that claim has introduced in evidence a certain letter addressed to the defendant company, which Mr. Griffith denies that he signed. You will consider all of the evidence bearing on the question of whether or not Mr. Griffith signed this letter. If you find that he did sign it, then I charge you that the effect thereof would be an acceptance of the ice plant, and that the contract would be an executed one, and that under the law he could not maintain an action to rescind the contract, and, his suit being one to rescind the contract, that your verdict should be for the defendant.’ The trial judge failed and refused to charge the jury either of said written requests to charge as hereinabove quoted, and did not elsewhere in his charge instruct the jury on the matters or questions involved in said requested charges. To the judgment of the court, in failing and refusing to give in charge the said requested charge so submitted in writing to the trial judge, movant excepts and assigns error thereon and says that the court erred in so failing and refusing to give said charges as requested in writing, on the grounds: (a) That the same were applicable and pertinent under the pleadings and evidence in said case, and submitted clearly and concretely the defense set up by the defendant, to the effect that the plaintiff had accepted said machinery constituting said ice plant; that the contract thereby became executed, and that plaintiff was not, therefore, legally entitled to have said contract rescinded, (b) That the failure and refusal of the court to charge the jury as thus requested, or to submit in any way to the jury the principles embodied in said requests, whether considered together or separately, had the effect of withdrawing from the jury its defense that plaintiff’s suit based upon a rescission of the contract would not lie under the pleadings and evidence in this case, and that the plaintiff was not entitled to the relief prayed for in his declaration, (c) That under the pleadings and evidence in the case said requested charges, and each of them separately, were warranted and required in order to properly and legally submit the defenses shown by the pleadings and the evidence in the case, and tlie failure to give said requested charges, and each of [447]*447them separately, amounted to and was a denial of defendant’s legal rights to contend and assert that plaintiff’s action based upon a rescission of the contract was an improper remedy, and could not be maintained under the pleadings and evidence.

“In connection with and in support of the foregoing movant shows that plaintiff’s case, as made by his declaration in attachment, is based upon an alleged right to rescind the contract, and to recover for the balance of the purchase-price. In its answer the defendant set up, as one of its defenses, that it had erected the ice plant in accordance with the terms of said contract, and that the same had been accepted by the plaintiff. The contract sued upon, and introduced in evidence, contains a provision as follows: ‘If, after the plant is erected and started into operation, it comes up to the contract, in performance and otherwise, you shall then accept the same as a fulfillment of this contract, and make payments for same in the manner hereinafter specified. If you fail to notify us, in writing, within thirty days after the plant is erected and started into operation, that the same does not perform according to contract, specifying in what particular it fails to do so, this shall in itself be construed as a final acceptance of the plant.’ The defendant introduced in evidence a letter addressed to it and signed by the plaintiff, dated June 15th, 1928, in which, among other things, he says: ‘This date I have accepted my plant which was installed by your Mr. Ch'able. The plant was tested both by air pressure and vacuum, and we had no leaks, and it seems to perform nicely so far. I am well pleased with' my plant as a whole, the manner in which it was installed, and the assistance you have given me during the installation. Mr. Chable has taken great pains to install my plant as neat as possible; also made several changes which will be a great benefit to me in the future. He has also given me instruction on operation and care of the plant; also changed my compressor oil,’ etc. Three witnesses testified that they saw the plaintiff sign this letter after he had read the same over. The plaintiff, in an equivocal and uncertain way, undertook to deny that he had ever signed such a letter, but would neither admit nor deny that the signature to the letter was his signature when the same was presented to him. In his pleadings the plaintiff did not allege or base his ease upon either total or partial failure of consideration; and even if there had been any such pleadings, there was no evi[448]*448dence showing or tending to show any value of the plant, or that it was worthless; and the court, in his charge, specifically instructed the jury that under the pleadings and the evidence in the case they must find in favor of the plaintiff for the full amount sued for and that the notes be canceled, or that they must find in favor of the defendant for the full amount of the unpaid notes as sued for in the answer and cross-action, thereby in effect eliminating any and all questions except whether or not the plaintiff was entitled to rescind the contract and recover on the basis of such a rescission.

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Bluebook (online)
165 S.E. 209, 175 Ga. 441, 1932 Ga. LEXIS 267, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/york-ice-machinery-corp-v-griffith-ga-1932.