132 Va. 226 | Va. | 1922
delivered the opinion of the court.
W. F. Garrett, defendant, complains of an adverse judgment entered in favor of Daniel Rahily and James R. Martin, partners, trading as Rahily & Martin, plaintiffs, in an action of detinue for a Jackson touring automobile.
The pertinent facts are, that the plaintiffs, who lived in Petersburg, were the general agents of the Jackson Motor Corporation, of Jackson, Mich., land on or about the 16th of March, 1920, appointed one L. N. Crawford, an automobile dealer in Norfolk, Va., their subagent for the sale of such automobiles. This agency contract required Crawford to purchase the machines directly from the manufacturers in Michigan, and to pay them therefor. On March 31, 1920, the plaintiff sold and delivered the automobile here involved in Petersburg to their subagent, Crawford, knowing that Crawford would take it to Norfolk for use in connection with his business,' as they say, however, for demonstration purposes only. They reserved title thereto by a contract of conditional sale, which was recorded in the city of Petersburg, April 5, 1920, and thereafter, before its recordation in Norfolk, following negotiations opened by one of Crawford’s clerks April 17, 1920, this automobile was sold by Crawford to Garrett, defendant, April 22, 1920, and according to his testimony, fully paid for.
Crawford, his vendor, had a place of business in Norfolk, and advertised Jackson automobiles for sale in his front window as well as in a local newspaper.
Under these circumstances, as is stated in the brief of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, it was a question for the jury to determine whether or not the defendant was a purchaser for value without notice, and they insist that the jury has properly found that he was not such an innocent purchaser. That it was a question for the jury is undoubtedly true, and if they had been permitted by the trial court
The case is controlled by the doctrines so recently announced in the cases of O’Neil v. Cheatwood, 127 Va. 96, 102 S. E. 596; Boice v. Finance & Guaranty Corp., 127 Va. 563, 102 S. E. 591, 10 A. L. R. 654; General Securities Co., Inc., v. Driscoll (C. C. A.), 271 Fed. Rep. 295.
Reversed and remanded.