Koons v. Shelburne Motor Co.

• Citation: 167 Okla. 634,31 P.2d 573,1934 OK 214
• Decision Date: 03 April 1934
• Docket Number: Case Number: 22051
• Parties: KOONS v. SHELBURNE MOTOR CO.
• Court: Supreme Court of Oklahoma

1934 OK 214

31 P.2d 573

167 Okla. 634

KOONS v. SHELBURNE MOTOR CO.

Case Number: 22051

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

Decided: April 3, 1934

Syllabus

¶0 1. Negligence--"Proximate" Cause of Injury.

An act is the "proximate cause" of an injury when such injury was the natural and probable consequence of the act, and one that ought to have been foreseen in the light of the attending circumstances.

2. Same--Unlawful Act as Cause of Injury.

The general rule of law is that one who does an unlawful act is not thereby placed outside the protection of the law, but that, to have this effect, the unlawful act must have some causal connection with the injury complained of.

Appeal from District Court, Oklahoma County; Geo. W. Clark, Judge.

Action by Mrs. J. P. Koons against the Shelburne Motor Company. Judgement for defendant, and plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

J. S. Ross, S. J. Clay, and J. H. Ross, for plaintiff in error.

J. B. Dudley and Everest, McKenzie, Halley & Gibbens, for defendant in error.

BAYLESS, J.

¶1 The plaintiff in error, Mrs. J. P. Koons, filed an action in the district court of Oklahoma county, Okla., against the Shelburne Motor Company, the defendant in error, and when that court sustained a motion for judgment upon the pleadings, in so far as her second cause of action is concerned, she appealed to this court. The parties will be referred to herein as they appeared in the trial court.

¶2 For her second cause of action, the plaintiff alleged, in substance: That she contracted with the defendant to replace the motor then in her automobile with a new motor; that defendant took possession of her automobile for that purpose, and thereafter returned it to her with the assurance that it had fulfilled the contract; that she discovered this to be untrue in this, that the defendant had either used the motor then in her car and altered the identification numbers or had replaced her motor with an old, used, and worn motor bearing altered or fictitious identification numbers, and that the bill of sale issued to her bore motor identification numbers different from those on the motor; that she had trouble with this motor, and when she placed the automobile in a garage at Joplin, Mo., for attention, the altered or fictitious character of the motor numbers came to the attention of the garageman, and he thereupon called her attention thereto, charged her, in the presence of her guests and friends, with being an automobile thief, or of having in her possession a stolen automobile, and further told her that she was subject to arrest for possessing and driving an automobile with altered or fictitious motor numbers; that the defendant had been engaged in the automobile business for several years, and it violated sections 2165, 2166, C. O. S. 1921, by selling to her a car with altered motor numbers, that it well knew that automobiles were stolen and the identification numbers altered, and that it is a sign and indication of a stolen automobile and of having a stolen automobile in one's possession to be found driving or possessing an automobile with altered identification numbers, and it was subjecting her to arrest therefor, and was willful and wanton in so placing such a motor in her automobile. We deem it best to quote certain of the remainder of said cause of action:

"That these accusations caused the plaintiff to have a great nervous shock. She was humiliated and felt disgraced in the presence of her friends and guests and other people that had come around. That this shock continued for many weeks. That she was made sick as a result thereof and was required to go to bed to get rest and improvement in her physical and mental condition. That she called in and received the services of doctors who ministered to her on account of her physical condition resulting from the accusations aforesaid, and the shock and annoyance that she received as a result of the discovery of the deceit and fraud of the defendant in sending her out with a defective, old and worn motor, with false and fictitious numbers thereon.

"That in this nervous plight, plaintiff was confused, her mental faculties were upset, and she was undetermined in what course to pursue, but finally decided that she would resume her journey to Columbus, O., and go immediately thence to the factory of the Hupmobile Company in Detroit, Mich., where this and other automobiles of this kind are manufactured, and this she did. That her trip from Joplin, Mo., to Columbus, O., and on to Detroit, Mich., occupied several days. That she had to drive the car slowly and with utmost caution, lest an accident happen; that she had been warned by the garage keeper at Joplin, Mo., that if anything became the matter with her car and she had to call a mechanic to repair it, she probably would be arrested for driving a stolen automobile and that the fear, anxiety and trepidation of being arrested, charged with a felony, constantly attended her from the time she left Joplin until she arrived at Detroit, Mich., several days thereafter.

"* * * Plaintiff avers that as a result of the accusations and insults aforesaid, her humiliation, the shock to her nervous system, the fact that she was made sick as a direct result of the experience described, and the great inconvenience and annoyance she was caused

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