Taft v. Hyatt

Citations

• 105 Kan. 35
• 180 P. 213
• 1919 Kan. LEXIS 9

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Reward — Apprehension of Criminal — Conflicting Claimants of Reward — Proper Case for Bill of Interpleader. Plaintiffs, who had offered a reward for the apprehension of a criminal, alleged that they were threatened with litigation hy different parties claiming the reward ; that some one or more of the defendants were entitled to receive it, and asked that defendants be required to set up their respective claiins to the fund, which plaintiffs brought into court. Held,, a proper case for an action in the nature of a bill of interpleader.</p> <p>2. Same — Informant Whose Information Did, Not Lead, to the Arrest Not Entitled to Reward. After the reward had been offered, an attorney at law was notified that the accused person desired to see him and was told where the latter could be found. Knowing of the offer of the reward, he went to the hiding place of the accused and talked with him for an hour and a half, but failing to agree upon a fee for defending him, went to the county attorney’s office and arranged for the arrest of the accused person and then claimed the right to the reward. Before the officer to whom his information was conveyed arrived at the place where the accused had been, the latter, with the aid of friends, had surrendered himself to the chief of police, who took him to the county jail and placed him in the custody of the sheriff. Held, that, under the circumstances, the attorney is not entitled to the reward, and a judgment in his favor is reversed.</p> <p>3. Same — Private Offer of Reward Not an Enforceable Contract until Accepted. A private offer of reward for the apprehension of an accused person stands, as a general rule, upon a different footing from an offer made by virtue of a statute. When accepted, the offer becomes a contract; until it is accepted by some person, who upon the strength of the offer takes some steps to earn the reward, there is no contract; and where a claimant of the reward was not aware th