149 Conn. 251 | Conn. | 1962
The plaintiff, a Stamford physician, brought suit against his brother Louis, his brother’s wife, Jean, their son Richard and her brother, Sidney "Weisfeld, a New York attorney, to recover damages for an assault and battery and for the conversion of two violins, a painting, a check for $500, and $125 in cash. The complaint is in two counts. The jury returned a verdict for the defendants on the first count, which alleged the assault and battery, and for the plaintiff to recover damages of $23,500, plus interest, from all of the defendants on the second count, which alleged the conversion. The defendants filed a motion to set aside the verdict. The court denied the motion. The defendants have appealed from the judgment rendered on the verdict. The plaintiff has not appealed from the judgment for the defendants on the first count.
The record presents a rather bizarre and confusing portrayal of the financial dealings of the plaintiff and his brother Louis with a third brother, Joseph, which underlay the events out of which this litigation' arose. Error is assigned in the finding,
With such minor corrections as the defendants are entitled to, the finding shows that the plaintiff claimed to have proved that on November 3, 1955, he was the owner of a Guarnerius and a Bergonzi violin and a small painting of the school of Rubens. He was interested in selling them to obtain money to meet a note for $25,000 which he had endorsed for Joseph. Prior to November 3, 1955, the plaintiff had discussed, with both Louis and Richard, his financial involvement. Richard offered to assist in selling the violins and the painting and drove the plaintiff to New York on November 3 to pick them up in order to show them in Greenwich to an agent of a prospective buyer. In New York, the plaintiff picked up four violins, one being a Stradivarius. He carried the four in two double violin cases. The plaintiff and Richard returned to Stamford, where the plaintiff made a stop at his own house. The plaintiff and Richard then started for Greenwich. Richard said he wanted to stop at his father’s house, which was in Stamford. On arriving there, they both entered the house. The plaintiff was carrying the violins and the painting. Inside, they were met by Louis, his wife, a daughter, Vivien, the defendant Weisfeld and three strange men, one tall, one of medium height and one short. Someone took a violin ease away from the plaintiff. The three strangers took him into another room,
The claims of proof of the defendants are that the plaintiff brought the violins and the painting to Louis’ house on November 3, 1955, by prearrangement. Under the plan, he was to turn them over to whoever was designated by Louis, in partial satisfaction of the indebtedness of approximately $60,000 owed by him to Louis for moneys which had been loaned to the plaintiff and Joseph at the request of the plaintiff and on his promise to repay the loans. The plaintiff’s business dealings with Louis antedated 1955. In 1953, Louis gave the plaintiff a check for $700 and on other occasions loaned money to him and to Joseph. The loans totaled $60,000 and were all made on the promise of the plaintiff, to vouch for, and to repay Louis for, all
As has been indicated, the complaint is in two counts. The first count alleges the assault and battery by the defendants and the strangers. The second count alleges that the two violins, the painting, the two checks and the cash were obtained from the plaintiff “by the defendants and others in collusion with them, as a result of duress, assault and battery” on the plaintiff. In a more specific statement, the plaintiff elaborated on the allegations in the complaint by stating that the defendants assaulted him in a house on Riverbank Road in Stam
As noted, the plaintiff has not appealed. Ordinarily, in such a situation, he would be debarred from a retrial of the issues raised in the first count. The error in submitting the incorrect forms of verdict, however, affected both counts and requires a new trial in full. Maltbie, Conn. App. Proc. § 350.
There is error, the judgment is set aside and a new trial is ordered.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.