Greenbaum v. Martinez

Citations

• 86 Cal. 459
• 25 P. 12
• 1890 Cal. LEXIS 1053

Syllabus

<p>Jurisdiction of Superior Court — Trover — Pleading'—Ad Damnum Clause of Complaint •— Items of Damage. — The ad damnum clause of a complaint in an action for damages constitutes the test of jurisdiction; and where the whole amount of unliquidated damages, exclusive of interest, claimed in a complaint for the wrongful conversion of wheat equals or exceeds three hundred dollars, the superior court has jurisdiction of the action, although the value of the wheat converted, and the money expended in pursuit of it, separately considered, do not either of them equal the jurisdictional sum.</p> <p>Id.—Damages for Conversion of Property—Attorney’s Fees—Construction of Pleading — Surplusage. — In an action for the wrongful conversion of personal property, where the plaintiff seeks to recover the sum of §262.84, alleged to be the value of the property converted, and also the further sum of §100, alleged to have been expended for attorney’s fees in the pursuit of the property, although money paid out for attorney’s fees may not be within the rule of damages declared in section 3336 of the Civil Code, yet the words “ attorney’s fees ” may be treated as surplusage, leaving an allegation of the expenditure of the stated amount in pursuit of the property, which, together with the value of the property, would bring the whole sum demanded within the sum required to give the superior court jurisdiction.</p> <p>Id. —Recovery of Less than Jurisdictional Sum — Costs. —When the amount claimed in the complaint is sufficient to confer jurisdiction, the fact that the recovery is for less than the jurisdictional sum cannot affect the question of jurisdiction, but can only affect the recovery of costs.</p> <p>Sale — Passing Title —• Identification — Segregation. — Under section 1140 of the Civil Code, the title to personal property sold or exchanged passes to the buyer whenever the parties agree to a present transfer, and the thing itself is identified, whether it is separated from other thi