Kennedy v. Conroy

VANCLIEF, C. This is an action to recover damages for the conversion by defendant of certain sheep and hogs alleged to be the property of the. plaintiff. The defendant justifies the taking of the property upon the ground that he was sheriff of the county of Placer, and as such seized and sold the property under an execution against C. Quinn, whose property he alleged it was at the time of such seizure. On the twelfth day of August, 1893, Quinn executed and delivered to plaintiff a lease demising to him a farm in Placer county for the term of two years and two months, and on the same day made and delivered to plaintiff a bill of sale of livestock and other personal property then on said farm, including [338]the sheep and hogs in question. The consideration named in the bill of sale is $2,600, and the testimony tends to show that Quinn was indebted to plaintiff at the time the bill of sale was executed (though in what amount does not appear), and that the cancellation of the pre-existing debt was the consideration for the sale. These instruments were executed and delivered to plaintiff at the town of Lincoln, and plaintiff (who is the stepson of Quinn) testified: “When I received this bill of sale, Mr. Quinn turned the stock over to me on the ranch in the presence of witnesses. He turned the stock over to me on the ranch. The witnesses were Cornelius Kennedy and Owen Corcoran. No, it was not on the ranch that he turned the stock over to me; it was in the town of Lincoln. The stock was not in Lincoln, but that is where the witnesses were when they witnessed it. They witnessed the bill of sale. No, it was not witnessed by them. They were witnesses to the stock. Statements were made in their presence by him to me in Lincoln. ’ ’ In the lease of the farm Quinn reserved from its operation two rooms in the farm-house for the use and occupation of himself and his wife as a home and residence, and Quinn was there when the defendant seized the animals. There is nothing in the record to show how many rooms there were in the house, nor whether the rooms so reserved by Quinn were the same rooms that he and his wife had previously occupied. The lease was not recorded. Plaintiff was twenty-six years old, had livéd with Quinn since his boyhood, and worked on the farm, having charge of the sheep and hogs, which were on the place before the execution of the bill of sale. After the making of the bill of sale, plaintiff had charge in the same way. The hogs and sheep remained on the ranch in the same condition that they had been in before he took the bill of sale. There was no change in the manner of using or keeping them. One witness testified that he went to work on the Quinn ranch about the 24th of August, 1893, and worked there two months; that he was employed by plaintiff, who paid him for his work. Another witness testified that he had seen the hogs and sheep on the ranch of Mr. Quinn; that plaintiff was working on the ranch prior to August 1, 1893, and shortly after that, on the ranch, witness heard Quinn say that he delivered and sold all this stock to plaintiff; that plaintiff seemed to be in charge; that Mr. Quinn was not doing anything at all, except little chores