Cover v. Hoffman

Citations

• 213 Pa. 213
• 62 A. 836
• 1906 Pa. LEXIS 449

Syllabus

<p>Practice, C. P. — Trial—Reservation of question of law.</p> <p>The rules for reserving a question of law at a trial are: 1. The question of law reserved must be one of law purely, unmixed with any question of fact. 2. It must be one that rules the case so completely that its decision will warrant a binding instruction. 3. The question must be clearly stated, and the facts upon which it arises must be admitted on the record or found by the jury. A reservation that violates any of these rules is incurably bad, and a judgment entered in pursuance of it will be reversed whether an exception has been taken or not.</p> <p>A point which asks for binding instructions because on all the evidence the plaintiff is not entitled to a verdict, or because a particular fact has not been established by a preponderance of the testimony, is incurably bad.</p> <p>Contract — Sale—Agreement to repurchase.</p> <p>On an issue to determine what was due on a confessed judgment which had been opened without terms, it appeared that the plaintiff at one time owned and conducted a country store. He was elected to a county office for the term of three years, and sold the defendant the real estate for $3,000 and the stock of goods and fixtures at a price to be determined by an appraisement, and he received a judgment note in part payment. At the time he agreed in writing that at the end of three years, if the defendant at that time desired to sell, he would purchase the real estate and the stock of goods the defendant then might have in hand on the same terms and conditions on which he had sold. The defendant agreed that he would keep up the stock of goods and, in the event of a sale to the plaintiff, that he would pay a reasonable rental for the real estate for the time ho had occupied it. The defendant gave due notice of his desire to sell, as provided by the agreement, and tendered a deed for the real estate. The plaintiff failed to purchase, and the defendant’s heirs afterwards sold the rea