Stevenson v. Fitzgerald

• Decision Date: 26 October 1881
• Citation: Stevenson v. Fitzgerald, 47 Mich. 166, 10 N.W. 185 (Mich. 1881)
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Parties: STEVENSON v. FITZGERALD and another.

10 N.W. 185

47 Mich. 166

STEVENSON v. FITZGERALD and another.

Supreme Court of Michigan

October 26, 1881

To enable a party to maintain trover for property converted it is necessary for him to show that at the time of the conversion he was in actual possession or entitled to the immediate possession of the property converted.

Error to St. Clair.

O'Brien J. Atkinson, for plaintiff in error.

W.T Mitchell, for defendants in error.

GRAVES J.

Stevenson sued in trover for an alleged wrongful conversion of a horse and buggy. The trial took place without a jury and the judge made a series of special findings and awarded judgment for defendants. The plaintiff contends that on the strength of these findings he is entitled to recover. Unless the facts as ascertained and reported make out a case of trover the result cannot be changed. They show that McCormick acting as ward collector of the city of Port Huron under a warrant attached to what was claimed to be the assessment roll of the ward seized and sold the property in question to satisfy a tax on said roll against the plaintiff. They further show that Fitzgerald was city controller and in that character made the warrant, but had no other connection with the act relied on as a conversion.

Many circumstances are set forth bearing on the regularity of...