49 Vt. 355 | Vt. | 1877
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The questions' discussed in this case arise upon exceptions to the referees’ report. On the trial, the parties were at issue as to the terms of the contract of sale that the defendant set up. The plaintiff insisted that the contract of sale was to have effect as such, only upon the delivery to him of defendant’s note with surety. The defendant claimed that the delivery of his sole note completed the trade. The referees found this issue as claimed by the plaintiff, and that, inasmuch as the defendant failed to deliver the note with surety, no property in the horse passed to him. The conversion of the horse is sufficiently made out then, without any reference to the evidence objected to by the defendant.
The plaintiff, on the trial, offered testimony to show that the defendant was engaged in other transactions in horses cotemporaneous with this, which were fraudulent, for the purpose of sustaining the plaintiff’s claim that the defendant purchased the plaintiff’s horse with the fraudulent intent of getting possession thereof and not paying for him. This evidence was received, and
The evidence in this case on this point very clearly established a general purpose oh the part of the defendant and his “ pal,” to swindle any and all parties that they could reach ; and their method of operations seems to have been in other cases the same’ as that adopted with the plaintiff, namely, to get up the semblance of a contract as the guise under which to practice their fraud. Such rascals always lament with “ long faces” and “ holy horror” any deviation from well-settled rules of the law of evidence that tends to bring them to their just deserts ; but we are happy to believe in this case, that no such deviation is necessary to accomplish substantial justice.
Judgment affirmed.