Deighton v. Hover

Citations

• 58 Wash. 12
• 107 P. 853
• 1910 Wash. LEXIS 878

Syllabus

<p>Telegraphs and Telephones—Wrongful Opening of Telegram—• Evidence—Sufficiency. The evidence is sufficient to show that defendant opened a telegram making plaintiff a cash offer for land, where it appears that it was delivered to defendant upon his' offering to deliver it to the plaintiff, that he did not deliver it, but on the next day defendant closed a trade with the plaintiff for the land, which trade he had just previously refused to make, and after the trade attempted to dispose of the land to the party who had made the offer in the. telegram.</p> <p>Same—Measure of Damages. Under Rem. & Bal. Code, § 2977, giving treble damages for all loss and damages sustained by the wrongful opening of a telegram, where defendant, 'by wrongfully opening a telegram making plaintiff a cash offer for land, induced plaintiff to trade the land to the defendant for less than was offered, the measure of damages is the difference between the value of the land given and the value of that received, irrespective of the tentative offer, where it was probable plaintiff could have sold for its full value.</p> <p>New Trial—Misconduct of Counsel—Discretion. It is not an abuse of discretion to refuse a new trial, asked because of a conversation held by respondent’s counsel with a juryman, in a public place, in the presence of appellant’s counsel, no reference to the case being made in the conversation.</p>