Burt v. Rynex

• Decision Date: 31 August 1871
• Parties: WILLIAM BURT, Respondent, v. W. H. AND ADELE RYNEX, Appellants.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

48 Mo. 309

WILLIAM BURT, Respondent,

v.W. H. AND ADELE RYNEX, Appellants.

Supreme Court of Missouri.

August Term, 1871.

Appeal from Linn Circuit Court.

A. W. Mullins, for appellants.

This was not a case in which the opinion of a jury could properly be taken. (Wagn. Stat. 1041, § 13; Morris v. Morris, 28 Mo. 114.) Even if this had been a case in which issues might properly have been submitted to a jury, the issues here are not such as are authorized by the statute.

F. D. Burgess and G. W. Easley, for respondent.

The issues were properly made up and submitted to the jury. (Gray v. Payne, 43 Mo. 203.) As to the proper mode for framing issues and the trial thereof, see Morris v. Morris, 28 Mo. 114; McCullough v. McCullough, 31 Mo. 226.

WAGNER, Judge, delivered the opinion of the court.

Burt, the plaintiff, instituted suit against H. H. T. Grill, Jacob A. Lemon and William H. and Adele Rynex, to set aside a deed of conveyance of certain lands, executed by Burt to Lemon in April, 1861, and also a deed of the same lands from the sheriff of Linn county to the defendant, Adele Rynex, dated in April, 1863, and to obtain by a decree of court the title to the lands in himself. Lemon was never served with process, and made no appearance in the suit. Grill demurred on the ground that he was not a proper party, and the demurrer was sustained. The suit was then carried on to final judgment against W. H. and Adele Rynex, as defendants, and a decree having been rendered against them in conformity with the plaintiff's bill, they are the appellants here.

The plaintiff charges that he executed a deed to Lemon, and placed it in the hands of Grill to hold as an escrow, until Lemon should pay a certain note given for the purchase money, which note was also left in the possession of Grill; that Grill, for the purpose of defrauding and cheating the plaintiff, either delivered the deed to Lemon or caused the same to be recorded, before any part of the note was paid; that a judgment was afterward rendered against Lemon, and the lands conveyed to him by the plaintiff's deed were levied upon and sold by the sheriff, under the execution on the judgment, and that the defendant, Adele Rynex, became the purchaser; that the sheriff made to her a deed for said lands, and that she held the same in trust for Grill.

The defendants, William H. and Adele, filed an answer to the petition, denying the charges of fraud on the part of the defendants, and denying that the said Adele held the title to the land in trust for the use of Grill, and averred that she purchased the same in good faith on her account and paid full value therefor.

The defendants now object that on the trial the court framed and submitted issues to a jury, when it should have tried the case itself without the aid of a jury. The objection was not made in the court below, and it was a matter resting in the discretion of the court whether it would take the opinion of a jury upon specific questions of fact or not.

In chancery cases, where the court has to find the issues and render its decrees upon the facts, it is better for the court to try the whole case than to attempt to avoid responsibility by appealing to a jury. But the submitting of issues is authorized by statute in a proper case, and the court may pursue that course if it sees fit. The exercise of the discretion is not a ground for error unless we can plainly see that the party has been injured by it. But the court is not bound by the finding as it would be by a verdict at law; it may adopt it or not, and as we review the whole case on the evidence, we will not reverse the judgment if the facts support it, though errors may have been committed on the trial.

The only reason urged for the reversal of the judgment is the admission of illegal and improper testimony. It appears that Burt gave the deed to McClanahan to deliver to Grill, and on the trial, and whilst he was giving evidence, the attorney asked him...