Case Title: Bustin v. Craven

Citation: 263 P.2d 392, 57 N.M. 724

Docket Number: 

State: new-mexico

Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

Date: 1953-10-30T00:00:00Z

Document:
263 P.2d 392 (1953) 57 N.M. 724 BUSTIN et al. v. CRAVEN et al. No. 5628. Supreme Court of New Mexico. October 30, 1953. Rehearing Denied December 8, 1953. Perry S. Key and Frank L. Horan, Albuquerque, for appellants. Fred L. Nohl, Albuquerque, for appellees. *393 LUJAN, Justice. C.T. Bustin and A.O. Smith, doing business as Bustin & Smith, in Austin, Texas, hereinafter referred to as plaintiffs, filed this action in the district court of Bernalillo County against Norman Craven and Paul Hunt, doing business as C & H Motor Company in Albuquerque, New Mexico, hereinafter referred to as defendants, as an action in replevin, wherein plaintiffs sought to recover possession of a 1950 Pontiac automobile and damages for its wrongful detention. The cause was tried to the court without a jury and a judgment rendered in favor of plaintiffs. Defendants appeal. Plaintiffs allege that they are the owners and have the right to immediate possession of the car in question and that it is wrongfully detained from their possession by the defendants. Defendants' answer recites that the plaintiffs are not the owners or entitled to the immediate, or any, possession of the automobile; that on January 2, 1952, plaintiffs gave possession of said automobile to Marvin T. Reed, alias Gerald A. Morrison; that on said date plaintiffs were not the owners of said car; that on said date Marvin T. Reed gave a check to the plaintiffs for the purchase of the said automobile; that plaintiffs may have acquired a Texas title to said automobile subsequent to January 2, 1952, but if they did they were not bona fide purchasers for value, without notice. It is further alleged that on February 13, 1952, said automobile was sold to the defendants for $1,350, by Marvin T. Reed, alias Gerald A. Morrison; that the title transferring said automobile to the defendants was an Illinois title; that the defendants are bona fide purchasers for value without notice and that the title of the defendants is superior to the entire world and especially the plaintiffs. It is also alleged that the plaintiffs are estopped from asserting any title to the car for the following reasons: (1) That the plaintiffs put it in the power of Marvin T. Reed, alias Gerald A. Morrison, to damage the defendants; (2) that the plaintiffs on the date they gave possession to Marvin T. Reed were not the owners of said automobile, but now claim an after-acquired title, with notice of infirmities and with knowledge of the rights of any bona fide purchaser for value without notice from Marvin T. Reed, alias Gerald A. Morrison; and (3) that on January 2, 1952, the plaintiffs gave possession of said automobile to Marvin T. Reed, alias Gerald A. Morrison and intended to sell same to Marvin T. Reed. That so far as the plaintiffs were concerned they did sell said automobile to Marvin T. Reed, alias Gerald A. Morrison. The negotiations between Marvin T. Reed alias Gerald A. Morrison and the plaintiffs were had in the state of Texas and subject to the laws of that state. A.O. Smith, one of the plaintiffs, among other things, testified substantially as follows: That he and C.T. Bustin are used car dealers doing business in the city of Austin, Texas; that on January 3, 1952, Marvin T. Reed came to their place of business for the purpose of purchasing an automobile; that on said date he picked out the car in question and gave them a check on the Austin National Bank, Austin, Texas, in the sum of $1,821.80; that Reed took the car out for demonstration purposes to try it out and if satisfactory he was to come back the next day and consummate the deal and apply for his title; that it is a usual procedure to let prospective buyers take out cars to try them out; that when Reed took out the car he said he was going to sell some electronic equipment which he had and would be back the next day; that the Austin National Bank informed plaintiffs that Reed had no account with them; and that Reed never came back with the car. The trial court made the following findings of fact: Defendants seriously urge that the transaction between plaintiffs and Marvin T. Reed alias Gerald A. Morrison constituted a valid sale. With this contention we cannot agree. There being no intention on the part of the purchaser (Marvin T. Reed alias Gerald A. Morrison) to pay for the automobile, the minds of the seller and the purchaser did not meet on the transaction, and the title to the car remained in the plaintiffs. Article 1413, Vernon's Penal Code: The "Taking" Must Be Wrongful. Provides: In the case at bar the facts and circumstances are sufficient to warrant the conclusion that the fraudulent intent existed at the very time Marvin T. Reed alias Gerald A. Morrison obtained possession of the automobile, and that he used a false pretext to secure its possession. Riggs v. State, Tex.Civ.App., 125 Tex.Cr.R. 647, 70 S.W.2d 164. The facts without contradiction whatever seem to us completely to establish the conclusion that Marvin T. Reed's conduct in dealing with plaintiffs constituted, in effect, theft by fraud. Measured in terms of stealth, deception, or general turpitude, his acts and conduct place him virtually in the same position, so far as Bustin & Smith, from whom he obtained the automobile, are concerned, as his position would have been had he stolen it. In Texas Jurisprudence, Vol. 32, Section 19, page 660, the author says: And in 37 Texas Jurisprudence, Vol. 37, Section 210, page 470, it is said: In the case of Parma v. First National Bank of Cameron, Tex.Civ.App., 37 S.W.2d 274, 276, the court said: It follows from what has been said that, since the automobile was obtained from the plaintiffs by trickery and fraud there was no sale to Marvin T. Reed alias Gerald A. Morrison and he never acquired title thereto. McKinney v. Croan, 144 Tex. 9, 188 S.W.2d 144; Damis v. Barcia, 266 App. Div. 698, 40 N.Y.S.2d 107. Vernon's Texas Penal Code, Certificate of Title Act, provides as follows: Article 1436-1, Section 33. Section 52 provides: And Section 53 provides: The Supreme Court of Texas has interpreted the above statutes in Erwin v. Southwestern Investment Co., 147 Tex. 260, 215 S.W.2d 330, 332, wherein the court said: In view of the Texas Act, and cases cited it was impossible to have consummated the attempted sale, and the entire transaction between the plaintiffs and Reed alias Morrison was void. Defendants further contend that the plaintiffs, by placing Reed alias Morrison in possession of the car estopped themselves from claiming title and right of possession of the car against them, who parted with value in acquiring it from Reed alias Morrison. We are unable to agree with this contention. There is nothing in the testimony to indicate that the plaintiffs from whom Reed alias Morrison obtained the automobile, by means of a worthless check, clothed him with indicia of ownership whatever beyond mere naked possession of the car. They gave him no other evidence of ownership in the car. Merely entrusting a third party with the possession of personal property does not constitute holding him out as owner so as to estop the real owner from claiming the same from one who purchases it from the possessor. In 21 C.J., Estoppel, Section 181, page 1178, the rule is stated as follows: If the true doctrine were otherwise than as stated above, no man could safely leave his watch with a watchmaker who sells watches, to be repaired, or no automobile owner could safely leave his car in a garage, where the business of selling cars is conducted, for the purpose of storing the same or having it repaired. From one of plaintiff's (A.O. Smith) testimony it is clear that the only authority granted by him to Reed alias Morrison was to try out the car, and if satisfactory, the deal would be consummated the next day. There is no showing that Reed alias Morrison was ever granted authority to make a sale of the automobile. The above authority is applicable. The defendants next contend that they are bona fide purchasers for value without notice. In this connection the testimony is as follows: Mr. A.M. Mattimiller, Assistant Branch Manager, Southwestern Investment Company, testified: Paul Hunt, one of the defendants, testified: The only evidence of Reed's alias Morrison's ownership was his possession of the automobile and a forged and fraudulent Illinois certificate of title. The burden of proof was upon the defendants to show that they were bona fide purchasers for value without notice. This they utterly failed to do. The facts above set out were clearly of a character, considering the nature of the transaction, to put defendants upon inquiry regarding the vendor's title, who was a total stranger to them. If they had called the officials in the state of Illinois on the day Reed alias Morrison offered the car for sale instead of waiting until the next day to do so they would have discovered that the certificate of title from the State of Illinois presented to them was a forgery. They could have ascertained the true ownership of the automobile at the time it was paid for if they had exercised reasonable diligence. They did not make such investigation or any investigation in this case. They relied solely on what Reed *398 alias Morrison told them and upon the forged certificate of sale. The defendants also contend that since the assignment of the certificate of title signed by John L. Allen, the prior owner of the car, was not notarized on the day it was delivered to plaintiffs, together with the car, that its execution was not in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Act and therefore void. We agree with this contention. However, in the instant case the plaintiffs were in rightful possession of the car under authority from John L. Allen at the time Reed alias Morrison obtained its possession by trickery and fraud. Thus, plaintiffs being rightfully in possession thereof they had an absolute right to maintain the present action. In McKinney v. Croan, 144 Tex. 9, 188 S.W.2d 144, 146, the court said: It is to be noted that at the date this suit was instituted the plaintiffs had perfected their title as required by the Texas laws. Other points are presented and argued but we consider them without merit and therefore will not discuss them. We are of opinion and so hold that at the time Reed alias Morrison attempted to transfer title to the automobile to the defendants, he had no title, hence the defendants received none, and that the plaintiffs were not guilty of any acts in the premises which would estop them from claiming title as against the defendants. Finding no reversible error, the judgment is affirmed. It is so ordered. SADLER, C.J., and McGHEE, COMPTON, and SEYMOUR, JJ., concur.