Opinion

Graham v. Sapery

  • 19 Misc. 690
  • 44 N.Y.S. 1109
Court
New York County Courts
Filed
Mar 15, 1897
Status
Published
Author
Ross
On the bench
Ross
Cited by
1 cases
Authority
More cited than 48.2%

The opinion

Ross, J.

Complaint was on assigned count for goods sold and delivered and judgment demanded, $35.90.

Answer, with other things, tender $30.32, which amount was paid in court.

March 20, 1896, judgment was rendered for the plaintiff for $30.32 and costs. . ■ . .

''April 9, 1896, appeal was taken.

It was conceded upon the argument that upon March 23, 1896, Mr. Willis T. Gridley, appellant’s attorney, took out of, court the above sum of $30.32. If the court had found the tender sufficient judgment should have gone against the plaintiff. Murphy v. G. & S. T. Co., 24 N. Y. St. Repr. 123; Becker v. Boon, 61 N. Y. 322 . And the plaintiff would have had the right either before or. after judgment to regard the money as his own. The court by giving judgment for plaintiff necessarily found that there was no tender, and defendant taking the appeal the plaintiff accepts a portion of the benefits of judgment by taking the money deposited in court and belonging to the defendant; being the exact amount of his recovery; In other words, he says this is a good judgment for $30.32, I will avail myself of its. benefits to this extent and appeal from the balance, $4.58 and interest, which I claim I should have received in addition to the amount awarded me.

This would not seem to be fair and is not good law. Bennett v. Van Syckel, 18 N. Y. 481 -484; Knapp v. Brown, 45 id. 207;. Alexander v. Alexander, 104 id. 643, in which it is said: “It is not denied that he could not be permitted at the same time to take the fruit of the judgment, and appeal from it as erroneous or wrong.” And again: “He stands thus in the attitude of hold-' ing the fruit of the judgment to which he may not be entitled if his appeal succeeds, and yet persisting in his appeal. The trouble is that he cannot gain the.right to .recover more without ■incurring the hazard of recovering less.”

The proper disposition of this appeal is a dismissal rather than an affirmance. Genet v. Davenport, 59 N. Y. 648 .

Appeal dismissed, with $10 costs.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.