O'Rourke v. Blocksom

Citations

• 69 Pa. Super. 93
• 1918 Pa. Super. LEXIS 19

Syllabus

<p>Contract — Deceit — Charge—Evidence—Measure of damages— Expert testimony.</p> <p>In an action of trespass for a deceit alleged to have been practiced on plaintiff by defendant in the sale of a second-hand automobile falsely represented as containing “a brand new motor” where the defendant claims that the plaintiff had bought the machine from a corporation, and not from the defendant’s agent, and the evidence on the subject lacks all probability, and is contradicted by the plaintiff and the other evidence in the case, the trial judge cannot be convicted of error in referring to the claim as a subterfuge.</p> <p>In such a case where it appears that the plaintiff did not discover the fraud for several weeks but during these weeks the motor had very little use, the court commits no error in charging that the measure of damages would be what plaintiff paid to defendant for the automobile, less what the automobile was worth, when the plaintiff learned as a fact that it was not as it had been represented to him.</p> <p>A witness for the plaintiff in such a case, may testify as to the result of the examination of the car, although such examination was made a considerable time after the purchase, if the evidence in the case shows that the car was in the same condition when the witness examined it, as it was .at about the time it was purchased.</p>