Ross v. Pacific Mortgage Guaranty Co.

SHINN, J.,

pro tem.

Plaintiff had judgment in the amount of $3,524.75, as the value of certain furniture, furnishings, fixtures and equipment of a hotel and cafe building.

Defendant questions the sufficiency of the evidence to support the finding that plaintiff was the owner and entitled to the possession of the property which at the time of the conversion was situated in a building known as the Proctor Hotel. Plaintiff testified that he had furnished the building after it was completed; that he paid for the furniture himself, and that he had not transferred the same to his mother, who was the owner of the real property. In our opinion this testimony, in the absence of any qualifying statements of the plaintiff or of any conflicting testimony, was sufficient to support the inference that plaintiff was the owner of the property. It was scarcely necessary for him to amplify his testimony by the further statement that the money used in making the purchase was his own and not that of his mother. The reasonable inference is that he paid for the furniture with his own funds and purchased the property for himself. While the property so purchased was not specifically identified as the same property found to have been converted by the defendant, yet it seems to have been so regarded at the trial both by counsel and the court. We

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cannot assume that more ample evidence on the subject would have resulted in a different finding.

There was sufficient evidence to establish the value oil the property as equal to that placed upon it in the findings. It is quite true, as defendant contends, that it would not have been proper to value the property as some of the witnesses did, as though it was in use in the hotel as a going concern, since plaintiff was not in possession of the real property and was not using or entitled to use the furniture in the operation of the hotel business. The evidence which supports the judgment relates to the value the property would have had when removed from the hotel. A comparison of the values given on the basis that the property was in use in an operating business and those found by the court clearly demonstrates that the court wholly disregarded the testimony which took into consideration erroneous factors of value.