Ranney v. Bader
| Decision Date | 31 October 1871 |
| Citation | 48 Mo. 539 |
| Parties | WILLIAM C. RANNEY, Respondent, v. HERMAN BADER, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Appeal from Cape Girardeau Circuit Court.
G. H. Green, with T. C. Fletcher, for appellant.
The verdict was not merely informal, but defective. It was not certain, positive and free from ambiguity. Hence it was void. (3 Gra. & Wat. N. T. 1378, 1380-2; Murray v. King, 8 Ired. 528.) It was not responsive to the issues. (Gra. & Wat. N. T. 1384 et seq.) The clerk could not make the motion to elect part of the record. (United States v. Gamble, 10 Houck, 459.)
L. Houck, for respondent.
The order of court compelling plaintiff to elect was a part of the record. (Mortland v. Holton, 44 Mo. 64.) The verdict was good. (State v. Rombauer, 44 Mo. 594. The finding as to interest was surplusage. (State v. Knight, 46 Mo. 84; Dunlap v. Hayden, 29 Ind. 303.) A court will not disturb an irregular verdict, where justice has been done--(3 W. Bl. 1221) where it is certain what the jury intended (Hawks v. Cupton, 2 Burr. 698)--upon a merely formal objection. (Cogswell v. Brown, 1 Map. 237.) The cases of Murray v. King, 8 Ired. 52, and Dozier v. Jarman, 30 Mo. 220, are really in point for respondent.
This suit was brought for damages for taking personal property, and the judgment is objected to by defendant in consequence of alleged indefiniteness in the verdict.
1. There were two counts in the petition, and a general verdict was given for the plaintiff. Under our system, which requires, when more than one cause of action is being prosecuted, that each cause be separately stated, and with the relief sought, so as to make a complete petition of itself, it is held that the verdict must be responsive to each statement, and that a general verdict is erroneous. (Brownell v. Pacific R.R. Co., 47 Mo. 239, and cases cited.) But this petition evidently contained but one cause of action in two counts, and for that reason the plaintiff was ordered by the court to elect upon which count he would proceed. He elected to rest upon the second, and hence the verdict is only responsive to the cause of action stated in that count.
2. The verdict itself is alleged to be indefinite. It is as follows: “We, the jury, find for the plaintiff, and assess his damages at $293, with six per cent. interest.” Upon this verdict the court rendered judgment for $293, saying nothing about the interest, treating that part of the verdict as surplusage. The correctness of this action of the court is manifest, for the law fixes the interest in accordance with the verdict; and the finding in that regard did neither good nor harm. In Dozier v. Jarman, 30 Mo. 216, a similar verdict was rendered, except that interest was to be computed from a past day, and the trial court rendered judgment for a sum which included the amount found by the...
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R. F. Summers, Defendant In Error v. S. A. Keller, Plaintiffs In Error
...beyond a proper finding of the facts should be regarded as surplusage, and the proper judgment entered upon the real finding. [Ranney v. Bader, 48 Mo. 539; State rel. Webster v. Knight, 46 Mo. 83; Hancock v. Buckley, 18 Mo.App. 459; Gurley et al. v. O'Dwyer, 61 Mo.App. 348; Muller v. St. Lo......
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...parties, was wholly outside of the issues submitted to them, and was properly treated as surplusage by the court. "In the case of Ranney v. Bader, 48 Mo. 539, the returned a verdict for plaintiff and assessed 'his damages at $ 293, with six per cent interest.' Upon this verdict the court re......
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Hatton v. Carder Wholesale Grocery Co.
... ... surplusage. 64 C. J. 1085, 1086, par. 888; State ex rel ... Webster v. Knight, 46 Mo. 83; Ronney v. Bader, ... 48 Mo. 539. Instruction on credibility of witnesses approved ... Malone v. Franke, 274 S.W. 369 ... ... OPINION ... regarded as merely surplusage. [ Kimberlin v ... Roberts, 341 Mo. 267, 107 S.W.2d 24; State ex rel ... Webster v. Knight, 46 Mo. 83; Ranney v. Bader, ... 48 Mo. 539.] However, where the verdict shows that the jury ... has reasoned falsely the verdict is void. [67 C. J., p ... 1085.] ... ...
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...Parker v. Ry. Co., supra; Leu v. St. Louis Transit Co., supra; Illinois, etc., v. Linstroth, etc., 112 Fed. 737, 50 C. C. A. 504; Ranney v. Bader, 48 Mo. 539; Brady v. Connelly, 52 Mo. 19; Long v. Armsby Co., 43 Mo. App. We must therefore conclude the verdict in this case sufficient as a ge......