Sykes v. Wood
| Decision Date | 20 October 1921 |
| Docket Number | 8 Div. 372. |
| Citation | 91 So. 320,206 Ala. 534 |
| Parties | SYKES v. WOOD. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Appeal from Morgan County Court; W. T. Lowe, Judge.
Detinue by W. J. Wood against Estella Sykes. Judgment for the plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Transferred from Court of Appeals under section 6, p. 449, Acts 1911. Reversed and remanded.
E. W Godbey, of Decatur, for appellant.
Wert & Hutson, of Decatur, for appellee.
Detinue instituted by appellee against appellant, to recover a diamond ring or its value. The plaintiff prevailed, the value of the ring being fixed by the jury at $125.
The controlling issue was whether appellee made an unconditional gift of the ring to appellant on Christmas Day, 1918, as appellant contended was the fact, or, according to appellee's contention, whether the ring was sent to appellant by appellee as a "token" of their engagement to be married, and hence, if a gift at all, a gift upon condition which, failing, left appellee with the title to the ring and the right to its immediate possession. If the appellant was correct in her contention, her reception of the ring from appellee was an unconditional gift, and the plaintiff was not entitled to recover. If, on the other hand the delivery of the ring was as an emblem of their engagement to marry, then appellee was entitled to recover; the condition being unfulfilled or broken. The court so instructed the jury; and the jury resolved the issue in favor of the appellee's (plaintiff's) contention. Considered as a whole, the oral charge of the court efficiently covered the subject of requested instruction, refused to appellant, stating that the burden of proof was on the appellee to show that these parties were "engaged" when the ring was sent to appellant. Hence no finding of prejudicial error can be predicated of the refusal of the requested instruction indicated, numbered 2.
By giving appellant's special charge 3 the court's refusal of appellant's request numbered 1 was rendered harmless, even if its refusal was error at all.
Upon a plaintiff in an action of detinue is the burden of presenting evidence, at least prima facie, of the value of the chattel sued for. The court erred in overruling appellant's objection to the question calling for appellee's opinion of the "worth" of the ring in August, 1918. The appellee had shown, affirmatively, that he had no knowledge in the premises, and that he was not...
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Barber v. State, 230
...the weight of the evidence. But many courts have held that ownership establishes a rebuttable presumption of knowledge. See Sykes v. Wood, 206 Ala. 534, 91 So. 320 and cases collected in 37 A.L.R.2d supra, p. 984 et seq. It has been held that the rule does not rest on the fact that the owne......
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Cofflin v. State
...the weight of the evidence. But many courts have held that ownership establishes a rebuttable presumption of knowledge. See Sykes v. Wood, 20l Ala. 534, 91 So. 320, and cases collected in 37 A.L.R.2d supra, p. 984 et seq. It has been held that the rule does not rest on the fact that the own......
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Hattaway v. Coulter
...to "a mutual promise or contract for a future marriage." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 117 (11th ed. 2019). In Sykes v. Wood, 206 Ala. 534, 91 So. 320 (1921), W.J. Wood filed a detinue action against Estella Sykes that raised the issue whether Dr. Wood's gift of a ring to Sykes wa......
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Courier-Journal & Louisville Times Co. v. Crossland
... ... knowledge of its value is not a competent witness as to its ... value. 32 C.J.S., Evidence, § 545, p. 318; Sykes v ... Wood, 206 Ala. 534, 91 So. 320 ... Mr. J ... A. McCall, a witness for the Company, qualified as being ... thoroughly ... ...