103 Cal. 607 | Cal. | 1894
Action to recover for the wrongful conversion by defendant of certain wheat alleged in the complaint to have been the property of plaintiff, and to have been of the value of three hundred and five dollars. It is averred that the wheat was taken maliciously, and for the purpose of oppression. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff in the sum of five thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven dollars, for which amount judgment was rendered for plaintiff. Defendant appeals from the judgment, and from an order denying its motion for a new trial.
Of course, all of the verdict over and above three hundred and five dollars—assuming the wheat to be of that value—and seven per cent per annum interest thereon, was for punitive damages, or smart-money; and we see no evidence in the record warranting such a verdict, or any verdict at all not confined to compensation for the actual detriment suffered by respondent on account of the conversion of the wheat.
There is nothing to show that the appellant did not, in perfect good faith, litigate respondent’s right to purchase the land from which the wheat was taken. He was advised by eminent counsel that respondent had not such right; and the question presented was one about which lawyers might well differ. (See Abbott v. ’76 Land & Water Co., 101 Cal. 567.) And there was. no evidence which justified the jury in finding that the act of taking the wheat was malicious, or done for the purpose of oppression. Appellant claimed, and in good faith, so far as it appears, that it owned the land and the wheat, and demanded it of respondent, who denied its right to
The judgment and order appealed from are reversed, and the cause remanded for a new trial.
De Haven, J., and Fitzgerald, J., concurred.