Zusman v. First State Bank of Lovell

1936 OK 794, 63 P.2d 760, 178 Okla. 330, 1936 Okla. LEXIS 815
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 8, 1936
DocketNo. 25771.
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 1936 OK 794 (Zusman v. First State Bank of Lovell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zusman v. First State Bank of Lovell, 1936 OK 794, 63 P.2d 760, 178 Okla. 330, 1936 Okla. LEXIS 815 (Okla. 1936).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The defendant in error, First State Bank of Lovell, as plaintiff, commenced this action in the justice of the peace court in the city of Guthrie, Logan county, Okla., against the plaintiff in error, Stephen Zusman, and the defendant in error C. C. Ahsmuhs, as defendants; the parties will be referred to as they appeared in the courts below.

The case was tried in the justice court, which resulted in a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against both of the defendants, and- was appealed by defendant Zus-man to the district court of Logan county, Okla., and was there tried to a jury, and at the close of all the evidence the court directed the jury to find and return a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the sum of $185.-45 against each of the defendants, and a verdict in favor of the defendant Ahsmuhs on his cross-petition against his codefend-ant, Zusman, in the sum of $185.45', or so much thereof as the cross-petitioner shall pay upon the judgment against him in favor of the plaintiff bank.

It appears that this suit was commenced to recover upon a promissory note made and executed by the defendant Stephen Zusman to the defendant 0. 0. Ahsmuhs, and that subsequent to the execution and delivery of said note, same was indorsed by the defendant Ahsmuhs, and sold and discounted to the plaintiff bank, and that at the time of the commencement of this action, the plaintiff bank was the holder and owner of said note in due course; that at the time the suit was filed, the amount due thereon exceeded the jurisdiction of the justice court, but that plaintiff remitted all of the principal, interest, and attorney’s fees in excess of $200. The note was dated at Marshall, Okla., May 6, 1931, and was payable in two installments, $121.04 due September 6, 1931, and $121.04 due January 6, 1932,.the last installment or payment being due exactly eight months subsequent to the date of the note, that certain payments were made on the note, .and at the close of the evidence, the court instructed the jury to return a’ verdict in, favor of the plaintiff in the sum of $185.45 as above stated. The pleadings and evidence in the case disclose that this note was executed by the defendant Zusman, for a part of the purchase price of a Ford automobile sold him by the defendant Ahs-muhs. It also appears from the record that the defendant Zusman, at the time he signed and executed the note, executed a chattel mortgage on said Ford automobile to the defendant Ahsmuhs to secure the payment of the note. The plaintiff filed its suit on the note, apparently waiving the chattel mortgage given to secure it, and sued only for a money judgment against the defendant. It appears, however, that, in the meantime, the defendant Ahsmuhs had repossessed himself of the automobile under and by virtue of the chattel mortgage and had sold the same for $25 and after the suit was filed paid the $25 to the plaintiff bank, through its attorney, which was credited on the note.

The defendant Zusman contends that the court erred in instructing the jury to return *332 a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and against him. The defendant Ahsmuhs makes no complaint because of the instructed verdict.

The evidence in the case clearly discloses that the plaintiff bank was (he owner and holder in duo course of the note involved, at the time it filed this suit; that it purchased it from the defendant Ahsmuhs before ma-turi‘y, and that the credits thereon were correct. The defendant Ahsmuhs corroborates these facts. The defendant Zusman admits the execution of the note, and admits that the credits given him by the plaintiff bank were correct, and that such credits were the full amount that he had paid on the note. So far as the note is concerned, and the amount due thereon, there was no dispute between the parties, and a’l the evidence on the part of the plaintiff and both the defendants conclusively shows that all the transactions with reference to the execution and delivery of the note by (he defendant Zusman, and the sale and transfer thereof to the plaintiff bank, were in all things valid and regular, and we think the trial court was correct in instructing the jury to return a verdict in favor of (he plaintiff in this case. In the case of Rend v. Automobile Investment Co., 167 Okla. 184, 29 P. (2d) 62, the first syllabus is as follows:

“The court may direct a verdict for plaintiff or defendant, as the one or the other may be proper, only where the evidence is undisputed, or is of such conclusive character (hat the court in exercise of a sound .judicial discretion would be compelled to set aside a verdict in opposition to it.”

The evidence in this case is undisputed and is of such a conclusive character that the court in the exercise of a sound judicial discretion would be compelled to set aside a verdict in opposition to it.

The defendant Zusman also complains of error: in admitting the note involved in evidence. We think there is no merit in this contention. The note was offered and introduced in evidence by the plaintiff, and the record discloses that both of the defendants affirmatively stated they had no objections thereto. The defendant Zusman complains of the admission of the note in evidence, because it was not affirmatively shown (hat the tax was paid thereon as required by section 12363, O. S. 1931, and that because thereof said note was not admissible in evidence under the provisions of section 12368, O. S. 1931. Section 12363, supra, provides for the payment of a tax to the county treasurer of the county in which the owner of such noe resides, of any duration over eight months, but does not provide for the payment of such tax unless the note is for a duration of over eight months. The note involved here was dated May 6, 1931, and the last installment due January 6, 1932, exactly eight months from the date thereof. Counsel for the defendant, in support of this contention, cite the case of Todd v. Webb, 134 Okla. 107, 272 P. 380. This case is not decisive of the question here, for in that case the note was of a duration of more than eight months. Furthermore, in that case the grounds of recovery were denied under oath by the defendant. There is no such denial here, and in fact there is no pleading filed in this case on behalf of the defendant Zusman at a'l. Wo held in Read v. Automobile Investment Co., supra, that where a note was introduced in evidence without showing the tax paid, and no objections were made thereto on this specific ground, an assignment 'of error was insufficient to raise the question of nonpayment of such tax. The second syllabus reads as follows:

“Objecting to the admissibility of a note in evidence without assignment of the statutory grounds provided by section 609, C. O. S. 1921, but with assignment of specific grounds other than that the tax required by section 9608, C. O. S, 1921, was not shown to have been paid, and without mention of the nonpayment of such tax, is insufficient to raise the question of nonpayment of such tax. Cole v. Kinch, 134 Okla 262. 262 P. 1017.

And in the opinion, Mr. Chief Justice Riley, in discussing that question, states:

“It is also contended that the court erred in admitting the note in question over the objection of defendant, for the reason that the note, or a part thereof, was for a duration of more than eight months, and no showing was made that the tax required by section 9808, C. O. S. 1921, had been paid, and that section 9613, C. O. S.

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Bluebook (online)
1936 OK 794, 63 P.2d 760, 178 Okla. 330, 1936 Okla. LEXIS 815, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zusman-v-first-state-bank-of-lovell-okla-1936.