Jones v. Cortes

Cope, J. delivered the opinion of the Court Field, C. J. concurring.

In 1856 the defendant was engaged in carrying passengers from the port of San Francisco, in this State, to San Juan del Sur, in Nicaragua, and the action is brought for the breach of a contract to convey the plaintiff, Mary A. Jones, who was then unmarried, from the former to the latter port, and for wrongs and injuries sustained by her in consequence "of the violation of the agreement. The grievances complained of were occasioned by the voluntary action of the owners and agents of the defendant, and on the trial of the case the plaintiffs were permitted to present the whole matter for the consideration of the jury. They were allowed to show, among other things, that the contract was fraudulent in its inception, and that great mental and bodily suffering had been produced by the peculiar circumstances attending its infraction. The evidence established a most aggravated case of hardship and oppression, and a verdict was rendered for S3,800 damages. It is objected that the rule of damages adopted by the Court below was [496]erroneous, and the validity of this objection is the principal question submitted for our determination.

In actions founded upon a breach of contract, the common law adheres with great tenacity to the rule which excludes all inquiry into the motive or animus of the contracting parties, and limits the damages to the direct pecuniary loss resulting from the breach. But there are instances, says Chitty, in which the defendant may be regarded in the light of a wrong-doer in breaking his contract, and where this is the case a greater latitude is allowed the jury in assessing the damages. (Chitty on Cont. 767.) It was held by the Constitutional Court of South Carolina, in an action of assumpsit, that the existence of fraud was sufficient to warrant the jury in departing from the ordinary rule upon this subject. “ Assumpsit,” said the Court, “ is nomen generalissamwm, under which a great variety of special cases are embraced. It 'includes every case by simple contract, whether in the nature of a warranty, a promise to pay money, or an undertaking to do or perform any act from whence a promise, either express or implied, can arise. The damages to be recovered must always depend on the nature of the action and the circumstances of the case. The difference of opinion which seems to exist on the subject, we apprehend has" arisen from confounding the distinctions between the different forms of assumpsit. In an action for money had and received, the actual amount of money received, with interest in some cases, should be the measure of damages. In an action for goods, or any specific chattel, sold and delivered, the value of the thing sold; and so in all other cases which furnish a standard by which the jury can be governed. But in cases of fraud, and other cases merely sounding in damages, the jury may give a verdict to the whole amount of the injury sustained, or imaginary damages.” (Rose v. Beattie, 2 Nott & McCord, 538.) This case was subsequently approved in Garrett v. Stuart (1 McCord, 514). Sedgwick, in his work on the measure of damages, combats this doctrine with great earnestness and ability. After discussing the matter at some length, he says: “ On the whole, therefore, notwithstanding the cases cited in the notes, and the authority of the tribunals by which they are decided, I conclude that so long as our present forms of action and rules of