310 Mass. 351 | Mass. | 1941
This is a bill in equity to require the delivery of two trucks to the plaintiff, and to secure an accounting from the defendant for profits earned by the use of said trucks. The report of the master was confirmed in the Superior Court and the defendant appealed from a final decree granting the plaintiff relief.
The only question we have to decide is whether upon the findings of the master the plaintiff is barred from relief on the ground that the transaction upon which the bill is based was tainted with illegality.
We summarize the material findings of the master. The plaintiff’s intestate, one Fouquette,..had been engaged for
After the trucks were registered in the name of Grenier, they were kept in the same place as they were before such registration, .except that one of the trucks was sometimes
The bill alleges that the trucks were transferred to Grenier but that “it was intended and understood that said Fou-quette should continue as the true owner of said vehicles,” and the master’s report shows that the execution of the arrangement into which Fouquette and the defendant had entered required the transfer of the registrations to Grenier. The illegal registration of the trucks was the means agreed upon for the purpose of securing work for the trucks from the city. Fouquette did not intend to pass any title to them, and at the times of the transfers to Grenier he knew that they were illegally registered. Such registration was
The bill seeks to set aside the transfers of these trucks and to secure the profits resulting from their unlawful use upon the highways. The public policy of this Commonwealth has been to exclude such motor vehicles from our highways, and in a long line of decisions of this court, commencing with Dudley v. Northampton Street Railway, 202 Mass. 443, and ending with Malloy v. Newman, ante, 269, 273-274, it has been held that owners and operators of improperly registered vehicles cannot recover in the absence of proof that their damages or injuries were caused by reckless or wanton conduct of another, and, on the other hand, such owners and operators have been held liable for damages and injuries to others on the ground that the use of such vehicles constituted a public nuisance.
The denial of relief to the plaintiff may seem a hardship, but the parties have by their illegal conduct deprived themselves of the aid of the court in determining and enforcing their interests arising immediately and directly from a transaction that a court cannot recognize. Wolkovisky v. Rapaport, 216 Mass. 48. Duane v. Merchants Legal Stamp Co. 227 Mass. 466. Caines v. Sawyer, 248 Mass. 368. Shong v. Shee, 254 Mass. 366. Szadiwicz v. Cantor, 257 Mass. 518. New Haven Road Construction Co. v. Long, 269 Mass. 16. Taylor v. Ashe, 284 Mass. 182. Coughlin v. Royal Indemnity Co. 244 Mass. 317. Baskin v. Pass, 302 Mass. 338. James J. Sullivan, Inc. v. Cann’s Cabins, Inc. 309 Mass. 519.
Decree reversed.