O'Leary v. Wangensteen
| Decision Date | 12 October 1928 |
| Docket Number | No. 26794.,26794. |
| Citation | 175 Minn. 368,221 N.W. 430 |
| Parties | O'LEARY v. WANGENSTEEN. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Appeal from District Court, Becker County; John A. Roeser, Judge.
Action by T. E. O'Leary against Owen Wangensteen. From an order denying an alternative motion for judgment non obstante or a new trial, defendant appeals. Affirmed.
Austin & Wangensteen, of Chisholm, for appellant.
P. F. Schroeder, of Detroit Lakes, for respondent.
Defendant appealed from an order denying his alternative motion for judgment non obstante or a new trial. The action was to recover the value of plaintiff's dog which defendant killed while it was chasing his turkeys.
1. Dogs may be killed when menacing sheep, G. S. 1923, § 7286, or when they constitute a nuisance within G. S. 1923, § 7287. The two statutes created two situations in which dogs might be killed. Oldenburg v. Petersdorff, 160 Minn. 402, 200 N. W. 446. The scope of section 7286 was enlarged by chapter 217, Laws 1927, Mason's Stat § 7286. It now includes all live stock and poultry, but is not applicable to the instant case because this cause of action accrued prior to the enactment of chapter 217, Laws 1927.
2. This defense, however, is not based upon any statute. It rests upon the rule of the common law which permits a person to kill a dog in defense of his property. In order to justify such killing, it must be under circumstances showing that the killing was a fair act of prudence on the part of the person doing the killing; reasonable regard being had to the value of the dog, the value of the property menaced, and the probability of present or future depredations. In other words, to warrant the killing of a dog for the protection of fowls and domestic animals, the circumstances must be such as to create a reasonable belief that such killing is necessary to prevent injury to such fowls or domestic animals. As is sometimes said, there must be an apparent necessity for the defense, honestly believed to be real, and the acts of defense must in themselves be reasonable. 1 R. C. L. 1127, § 70; 3 C. J. p. 157, § 498, and page 155, § 496; 10 A. L. R. annotation 694; Helsel v. Fletcher, 98 Okl. 285, 225 P. 514, 33 A. L. R. 792, annotation 796; State of Idaho v. Churchill, 15 Idaho, 645, 98 P. 853, 19 L. R. A. (N. S.) 835, 16 Ann. Cas. 947; Crow v. McKown, 192 Ala. 480, 68 So. 341, L. R. A. 1915E, 372; Hunt v. State, 3 Ind. App. 383, 29 N. E. 933; Sabin v. Smith, 26 Cal. App. 676, 147 P. 1180; Marshall v. Blackshire, 44 Iowa, 475. This rule is not abrogated by the statutes above cited. 3 C. J. 156, § 498; 10 A. L. R. 691; Nesbett v. Wilbur, 177 Mass. 200, 58 N. E. 586.
3. Defendant owned eight turkeys. He testified that plaintiff's dog and another dog chased them; that four turkeys sought safety on the woodpile, two escaped in another way, and two being pursued by the howling dogs ran and flapped their wings. Under these circumstances he admittedly shot the dog. Just how near the dog was to a turkey when shot does not appear. There is no contradicting testimony. There is other testimony corroborating the claim that the dog did in fact chase the turkeys.
Defendant argues that this unimpeached, positive, and uncontradicted testimony compels a finding in his favor. The rule is well established in this state that the court or jury cannot disregard the positive testimony of an unimpeached witness unless and until its improbability or inconsistency furnishes a reasonable ground for so doing, and this improbability or inconsistency must appear from the facts and circumstances disclosed by the record in the case. It cannot be arbitrarily disregarded by either court or jury, for reasons resting wholly in their own minds, and not based upon anything appearing on the trial. Schwartz v. German Life Ins. Co., 21 Minn. 215; Klason v. Rieger, 22 Minn. 59; Hawkins v. Sauby, 48 Minn. 69, 50 N. W. 1015; Anderson v. Liljengren, 50 Minn. 3, 52 N. W. 219; Lang v. Ferrant, 55 Minn. 415, 57 N. W. 140; Second National Bank v. Donald, 56 Minn. 491, 58 N. W. 269; Burud v. G. N. Ry. Co., 62 Minn. 243, 64 N. W. 562; Drew v. Wheelihan, 75 Minn. 68, 77 N. W. 558; Robbins v. Legg, 80 Minn. 419, 83 N. W. 379; Grover v. Bach, 82 Minn. 299, 84 N. W. 909; Kornig v. Western Life Indemnity Co., 102 Minn. 31, 112 N. W. 1039; State v. Halverson, 103 Minn. 265, 114 N. W. 957, 14 L. R. A. (N. S.) 947, 123 Am. St. Rep. 326; Roach v. Ætna Ins. Co., 108 Minn. 127, 121 N. W. 613; Woodworth El. Co. v. Theis, 109 Minn. 4, 122 N. W. 310; Ellertson v. Roholt, 109 Minn. 241, 123 N. W. 811; Campbell v. Canadian N. Ry. Co., 124 Minn. 245, 144 N. W. 772; B. Lewis v. C. G. W. Ry. Co., 124 Minn. 487, 145 N. W. 393; Rademacher v. Pioneer Traction Mfg. Co., 127 Minn. 172, 149 N. W. 24; Cole v. Johnson, 127 Minn. 291, 149 N. W. 467; Lewer v. M. & St. L. Co., 132 Minn. 173, 156 N. W. 6; Jensen v. Fischer, 134 Minn. 366, 159 N. W. 827; Baxter v. Brandenburg, 137 Minn. 259, 163 N. W. 516; Olsson v. Midland Ins. Co., 138 Minn. 424, 165 N. W. 474; Stephon v. Topic, 147 Minn. 263, 180 N. W. 221; Deposit Trust & Sav. Bank v. Hauert, 153 Minn. 102, 189 N. W. 599; Schendel v. Mundt, 153 Minn. 209, 190 N. W. 56; McRae v. Itasca Paper Co., 153 Minn. 260, 190 N. W. 72; Nelson v. McDonald, 153 Minn. 474, 191 N. W. 281; Nelson v. Bullard, 155 Minn. 419, 194 N. W. 308; Kasal v. Picha, 156 Minn. 446, 195 N. W. 280; Goedhard v. Folstad, 156 Minn. 453, 195 N. W. 281; Babich v. Oliver Iron Mining Co., 157 Minn. 122, 195 N. W. 784, 202 N. W. 904; West v. First State Bank of Mentor, 158 Minn. 342, 197 N. W. 850; Klare v. Peterson, 161 Minn. 16, 200 N. W. 817; Flikeid v. N. Y. L. Ins. Co., 163 Minn. 127, 203 N. W. 598; Sheehan v. First Nat. Bank of Waseca, 163 Minn. 294, 204 N. W. 38; Benson v. County of Marshall, 163 Minn. 309, 204 N. W. 40; Lampi v. James H. Brown Co., 165 Minn. 169, 205 N. W. 953; Failes v. Failes, 166 Minn. 137, 207 N. W. 200; State Bank of Gibbon v. Walter, 167 Minn. 37, 208 N. W. 423; Meyers v. M. St. P. & S. S. M. Ry. Co., 168 Minn. 122, 209 N. W. 892; Miller v. Ætna Ins. Co., 168 Minn. 145, 209 N. W. 887; Turner v. Gackle, 168 Minn. 514, 209 N. W. 626; Muetzel v. Muetzel, 169 Minn. 360, 211 N. W. 320; Barnard v. Seaman, 169 Minn. 409, 211 N. W. 473; Thompson v. Schiek, 171 Minn. 284, 213 N. W. 911; Olson v. Hoffmann (Minn.) filed Aug. 3, 1928, 221 N. W. 10. This rule cannot be nullified by the supposition or guess that the appearance of the witness led to his being discredited. Second Nat. Bank v. Donald, supra. To so hold would expose the litigant's property rights to the whim, caprice, or notion of the individual trier of fact, which would result in far greater danger than can possibly come from a rigid enforcement of the established rule that the record must disclose the reason or ground for rejecting the positive testimony of an unimpeached witness. To reject such testimony is a serious matter, and the power to do so upon grounds not made to appear upon the record would involve danger, in that a person's property rights could be stricken down for reasons which he or an appellate court might never know. The rule is well stated in Second National Bank v. Donald, supra. Some of the cases cited restate it, others merely recognize it, and others state the converse of the rule by saying that, if the evidence contains improbabilities or contradictions, appearing upon the record, furnishing reasonable grounds for not believing it true, or is irreconcilable with the facts shown by the record, it may be rejected. We recently held that the mere fact that a witness is interested in the outcome of the litigation does not permit the, court or jury to reject his otherwise unimpeached testimony. Olson v. Hoffmann, supra. This rule means that the court or jury cannot be permitted to arbitrarily disregard the evidence in the case.
4. Under this well-established rule it must be held that the evidence compels a finding that the dog was shot while chasing defendant's turkeys. If such fact alone would justify the killing defendant would be entitled, under the rule stated,...
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