54 Tex. 578 | Tex. | 1881
The exceptions to the petition of the plaintiffs on the ground of the improper joinder of parties plaintiff and the improper joinder of causes of action is not, we think, well taken. It is true that Goodwin might have maintained this suit alone, but the statute provides that for the recovery of the wife’s effects, the suit may be brought either alone by the husband or jointly with the wife. For the wrongful seizure of the exempt property, no good reason can be perceived why
We do not doubt that a petition may embrace so many
The defendants’ plea in reconvention was properly overruled. A debt cannot be set off against a claim for damages for the commission of a tort. To permit one who wrongfully seizes upon property not subject to execution for debt, to set off his debt against a recovery for its value, would be virtually to nullify the law declaring certain property exempt.
The third assignment of error is, that “the court erred in overruling defendants’ exceptions to the citation issued October 19, 1872, and in permitting plaintiffs to prove expenses incurred in attending court.”
Under the view entertained by the court below of the nature of the suit, there can be no question that this assignment is well made. Whatever difficulty there may be in determining what circumstances may or may not be considered in assessing the damages to which the plaintiffs may be entitled for the tortious seizure of the property by a void process, and in spite of its exemption by law, there can be none in holding that expenses in attending court, and loss of time in prosecuting their own suit for its recovery, cannot in this state be submitted to the jury as proof of actual injury. In Harris v. Finberg, where it was sought to recover expenses for attending court as part of the damages for the wrongful issuance of a writ of sequestration, Chief Justice Eoberts, in an exhaustive review of the case,' cited in Drake’s Attachment, and of those decided in other states and our own courts, concludes with these decisive observations: “A number of
In the present case, the court in its charge instructed the jury that they could not find any vindictive or exemplary damages by way of revenge or example, but that they could find actual damages sustained by the levy, its direct and immediate result, such as loss of time in defending against the attachment, and expenses paid in its defense. This was but to emphasize the error committed in admitting the testimony, and to render it impossible for us, upon any just, legal grounds, to sustain a verdict, which (looking at the proof in the case) we would certainly find no reason to disturb on the ground of excess, although neither exemplary or vindictive damages might, as the judge charged, be recoverable in this suit.
But we cannot undertake to say how far the jury were misled by this charge, or to what extent the plaintiffs’ loss of time, or expenses in defending the attachment, may have entered into their estimate of their damage. ' We must presume the jury understood and obeyed the instruction of the court. And as this error will require a reversal of the judgment, it is proper we should indicate our views as to the proper measure of damages in the case, whether actual or exemplary, under the state of case alleged.
The suit as originally brought was one sounding alto
The rule of damages applicable to the case as stated may be taken from the opinion of Chief Justice Hemphill in Cole v. Tucker, 6 Tex., 266: “ That in actions for malicious trespasses on personal property, vindicatory or corrective damages may be awarded, is a rule as old as it is firmly established. Compensation, in the legal and technical signification of the term, is not deemed a sufficient recompense for injuries of this character.” And again: “Where a trespass is committed in a wanton, rude or aggravated manner, indicating a desire to injure, a jury ought to be liberal in compensating the party injured in all he has lost in property, in expense for the assertion of his rights, in feeling or reputation, and even this may be exceeded by sotting a public example, to prevent the repetition of the act. In such cases there is no certain fixed standard, for a jury may probably take into view not only what is due the party complaining, but to the public, by inflicting what are called in law, speculative, exemplary or vindictive damages.” Sedgwick on Damages, 522.
And so in Hillman v. Baumbach, 21 Tex., 205, Mr. Justice Roberts says that “a charge that where a party commits a trespass under the honest belief that he is the owner of property, this is a circumstance to mitigate damages,” was rightly refused; and adds: “Such belief would not mitigate the actual damages sustained by the trespass.”
In all cases where actual damages are recoverable for unlawful taking of property, the principle which underlies the rule is, to give compensation for the injury actually sustained, and which has resulted immediately and directly from the wrong done; and when no circumstances of malice or oppression or intentional wrong or aggravation are shown, the usual measure of damages is the value of the property taken, and interest. But this rule must vary with the character and uses of the property. So in times of slavery the measure of damages for illegal taking of slaves was the value of the slave and his hire. Pridgen v. Strickland, 8 Tex., 434.
So a workman whose tools of trade were illegally levied upon, was allowed as actual damages not merely their actual value, but for the loss sustained in being deprived of their use in the exercise of his trade.
So for the illegal detention of a yoke of oxen, the owner was allowed to recover for then use while detained. Haviland v. Parker, 11 Mich., 104.
And there are cases in our supreme court where it has been held that, for the wrongful taking of horses or mules, the measure of damages was their value, and the value of their use or hire. This rule is recognized in Hudson v. Wilkinson, 45 Tex., 445, where it is applied to the wrongful taking and detention of a wagon and team. In
Should, however, the proof establish to the satisfaction
The proper disposition of this case is that it be reversed and remanded.
• Reversed and remanded.
[Opinion delivered March 24, 1881.]