Merritt v. Hibbard

Citations

• 61 Wash. 368
• 112 P. 350
• 1910 Wash. LEXIS 1349

Syllabus

<p>Fbaud — Pleadings — Complaint — Sufficiency. A complaint states a good cause of action for conspiracy to defraud, where it is alleged that the plaintiff was induced by the defendants, through false representations and a prior course of dealing, to put up $3,000 to pay for a worthless timber claim which one of the defendants had agreed to repurchase for a client at an advance.</p> <p>Same — Allegations of Value — Damages. In such a case, an allegation that the claim was of no value is not essential to the recovery of damages, where the plaintiff was induced to put up the money and was not to take any title, the name of the grantee in the deed being left blank and to be filled in on the resale to defendant’s client.</p> <p>Fbaud — Actionable Repbesentations. Upon a conspiracy to defraud, whereby plaintiff was induced to put up the money to purchase a worthless timber claim, representations that defendant’s client had agreed to purchase the claim and that a cruise had been made showing it to be valuable, are actionable.</p> <p>Fkaud — Evidence—Admissibility. Upon a conspiracy to defraud, whereby plaintiff was induced to purchase a worthless timber claim, evidence' of the small value of the claim is admissible.</p> <p>New Tbial — Gkounds—Ebkob of Daw. A new trial is properly granted where the trial court had committed error of law in granting a nonsuit or in excluding evidence.</p>