69 So. 967 | Ala. Ct. App. | 1915
This act must be taken and construed in conjunction with the general laws bearing upon the matters with which it deals.—Griffin v. Karter, 116 Ala. 160, 22 South. 484.
Under the evidence adduced in support of the defendant’s plea in abatement, the cause of action is not shown to be one that arose in “the Albertville district,” over which the circuit court sitting at Albertville had original jurisdiction conferred upon it to try and determine. The fact, or combination of facts, which gave rise to the right of action and constituted the cause of action did not arise in the Albertville district, but in Huntsville, Ala.' It was there the contract between the parties was made, for the making a contract is where it first becomes a binding engagement, where the minds of the parties meet. It. was in Huntsville that the contract was ratified and consummated between the parties and' became a binding obligation. Under the evidence in this case, the contract entered into resolved itself into an offer by one of the parties to buy goods on time and on acceptance by the other party. The act of acceptance closing the contract took place in Huntsville. It wás
It was also in Huntsville that the contract was to be performed, and it was there the breach occurred. The cause of action must arise from the occurrence of a certain fact, or facts. The term “cause of action” signifies the situation or state of facts entitling one to sustain an action (Ritter v. Hoy, 1 Ala. App. 643, 55 South. 1034), and it is only necessary, in arriving at a conclusion as to where, or at what place, the cause of action arose, to ascertain where that fact, or those facts, occurred. We can but conclude, on the evidence before us in this case, that the cause of action arose where the notes by their terms were payable and default in-payment made. And for that matter, both elements that can be regarded as entering into the question of venue are found to have taken place, or to exist, in the instant case, as occurring at the one place of Huntsville, Ala., the contract having been finally consummated there and the breach taking place there. Yet it is not ordinarily necessary, in determining the situs of the cause of action for the purpose of arriving at the venue of an action the gist of which is for the breach of a contract, to ascertain the locus of the execution of the contract, for genex-ally the right of the plaintiff depends on where the wrongful act or omission of the defendant occurs, as it is the breach that causes an accrual of the cause of action, and the entire cause in such cases arises where the breach takes place, which is the gist of the action, and necessary to be declared upon and proved to support a recovery.—Fike v. Stratton, 174 Ala. 541, 56 South. 929. However, as said, in this case, there can be no question of the complete accrual of the cause of action in Huntsville, Ala., when both factors entering
It follows that it is our conclusion that the court below was in error in giving the general charge for the defendant on the issues before the court.
Reversed and remanded.