Coleman v. Chester

Citations

• 14 S.C. 286
• 1880 S.C. LEXIS 127

Syllabus

<p>1. An agreement for the sale of land may not be proved by parol, but an agreement to compensate the owner of land for expenses incurred by him, by reason of the illegal appropriation of his land by a municipal corporation to the uses of widening a street, is not within the statute of frauds.</p> <p>2. The judgment of a Circuit Court based upon untenable conclusions, will not be disturbed, if it can be sustained upon any other grounds.</p> <p>3. In an action brought against a town, the plaintiff is not prevented by the proviso to section 415 of the code of procedure from testifying as to transactions between himself and a former intendant of the town, acting for the corporation, but at the time of trial deceased.</p> <p>4. A municipal corporation is not liable to an action for damages for a trespass committed by its officers under the authority of the corporation, unless made so by statute. White v. City Council, 2 Hill 571, recognized and followed, semble.</p> <p>5. But it may bind itself, by contract, to pay for benefits derived from such acts of trespass, or to compensate the party injured, if he would refrain from prosecuting a remedy given to him by statute.</p>