Title: Gunderson v. Johnson

State: north-dakota

Issuer: North Dakota Supreme Court

Document:

132 N.W.2d 700 (1965) John GUNDERSON, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Gordon JOHNSON, Defendant and Appellant. No. 8173. Supreme Court of North Dakota. January 15, 1965. Rehearing Denied February 5, 1965. Ella Van Berkom, Minot, for appellant. Farhart & Thomas, Minot, for respondent. ERICKSTAD, Judge. This is an appeal by the defendant, Gordon Johnson, from the judgment entered in favor of the plaintiff, John Gunderson, in Mountrail County District Court for $3,360 plus costs. A trial de novo is demanded. The judgment was for money damages found by the district court to be due Gunderson for the loss of 15 cows (6 of which were with calf) and 1 bull, because of *701 Johnson's negligence in failing to properly care for and control the cattle while they were in his possession. On appeal, Johnson contends that the evidence does not support the court's finding that he was negligent in the care of the cattle and, thus, that the complaint should be dismissed. We shall attempt to summarize the pertinent facts. In August, 1961, Gunderson lived 19 miles southwest of Ross and Johnson lived 13 miles south of Palermo (both located in Mountrail County, North Dakota), their farms being separated by about 30 miles. Because of drouth conditions in Gunderson's area, he was without pasture for his cattle. Having been acquainted with Johnson for about eleven years and knowing that he "had been successful in farming for many years" and that he had in the past raised cattle, Gunderson placed his cattle with Johnson. On August 26, 1961, Gunderson delivered to Johnson at the Johnson farm 26 cows, 1 bull, and 22 calves. The significant portions of a written agreement concerning these cattle, entered into on December 13, 1961, reads as follows: On April 5, 1962, 15 of the cows and the bull died from consuming grasshopper poison which the cattle, while running at large, found in an old granary on the Per Anderson Estate farm, approximately one and one-quarter miles from the Johnson farm. When the cattle were delivered to the Johnson farm, they were placed in Johnson's fenced pasture, which was near the farm buildings. When the cattle ate the *702 poison, they had been turned loose to graze at large in the area. Johnson and a number of his neighbors testified that it was customary in that neighborhood to permit cattle to run at large after the fall harvest and before the time that cattle would damage crops in the spring if permitted to continue to run at large. Johnson obtained specific permission to graze the cattle on the land of one of his neighbors by fencing the neighbor's two haystacks but had no permission to graze the cattle on the Anderson Estate land. He testified that he checked the cattle each day when they were running at large. Arthur Eklund, who lived one and one-quarter miles north of Johnson's farm, in response to a question concerning the practice of permitting cattle to run at large in the fall, testified as follows: Our law in respect to livestock running at large reads: The cattle had been permitted to run at large in the fall of 1961 following the grain harvest, had been kept in the barn during the winter, and ate the poisoned molassesbran mixture when they were released to run at large in April, 1962. The poison had apparently been in the granary for about thirty years, dating back to the time when the townships handled the disposition of grasshopper poison. The Anderson Estate farm was unfenced and unoccupied and had been so for many years. Other cattle had run on this land since 1945. Johnson knew that the door of the granary on the Anderson land had been destroyed, but he did not examine the granary to see if there was anything inside that would be injurious to cattle. His testimony in respect thereto is as follows: Gunderson testified that he was at the Johnson farm in December, 1961, when the calves were picked up for sale. At that time the calves were in the pasture and the other cattle were near the buildings. He stated that on another visit to the Johnson farm later in December, 1961, he found the cattle four or five miles from the Johnson land. He said he told Johnson at that time that "he should keep a little closer watch, keep them a little closer to home." Johnson testified that this visit took place in September or October, not in December; that the cattle were on that occasion grazing on the Anderson Estate land about one and one-quarter miles from the Johnson farm buildings; and that he does not recall a conversation in which Gunderson told him that the cattle should be kept closer to the farm. Gunderson testified that the cattle had been fed molasses while they were in his possession. Gunderson also testified that the cows with calf were worth $225 per head; the cows without calf, $190 per head; and the bull, $300. *703 Mr. Brown, a retired auctioneer and livestock dealer, testified that "the cows that are to calve and the ones that have calved have usually been selling at the same figure, between two hundred and two hundred and fifty at that time." Johnson testified that the cows with calf were worth $200 per head; the cows without calf, $180 per head; and the bull, $300. The bailor having alleged that his cattle were lost through the negligence of the bailee, the basic issue is whether the bailor has proved that the bailee was negligent in the care of the cattle entrusted to him. In deciding whether the bailee was negligent, let us examine the pertinent sections of our statutes to determine the degree of care required in this instance. In a case involving depositary for hire decided by our court in 1908, we said: Applying our law as it relates to a depositary for hire to the instant case, the writer of this opinion believes that when Johnson permitted cattle, placed in his care for the mutual benefit of himself as bailee and Gunderson as bailor, to run at large, contrary to state law, on a neighboring abandoned unfenced farm without first examining the contents of a granary (also unfenced) situated thereon, knowing that the door thereof had been destroyed; and the cattle ate the contents therein, consisting of poisoned molasses and bran, resulting in their death, he failed to exercise ordinary care and diligence, which is the care required of the bailee herein. The majority view of this court, however, is to the contrary, and the majority rules. The majority emphasizes that the facts in this case do not establish either negligence or an absence of negligence as a matter of law. As this is a trial de novo, whether the bailee was negligent is a question of fact. In determining this question, custom is relevant as evidence. This court therefore concludes that where Johnson permitted cattle placed in his care for the mutual benefit of himself as bailee and Gunderson as bailor to run at large, according to the custom in the community, on a neighboring abandoned unfenced farm upon which was located a granary (the door of which had been destroyed nine years previously) and upon which cattle had grazed without injury since 1945; where bailor knew the cattle were running at large and did not insist that bailee keep the cattle within a fenced pasture; where bailee daily checked or observed the cattle while they were running at large, and the cattle died from eating poisoned molasses and bran mixture which, unknown to the bailee, was stored in the granary, bailee exercised ordinary care and diligence. Notwithstanding this finding, we must pursue this case further, as it is Gunderson's contention that Johnson became an insurer in executing the bailment contract. He refers us to that portion of the contract which reads as follows: He argues that, under the maxim "expressio unius est exclusio alterius," the expression in a contract of things of a class implies the exclusion of all not expressed. 17A C.J.S. Contracts § 312 (1963). Applying this maxim, he believes that the assumption by the bailor of all losses due to death from normal or ordinary causes excludes any assumption on the part of the bailor of losses due to deaths from abnormal or unordinary causes and consequently results in the assumption of the latter losses by the bailee. His view is that losses from deaths due to the consumption of poison, under the circumstances of this case, are losses due to abnormal or unordinary causes. No decisions of this court or of any other court applying this maxim to comparable facts are cited in support of this proposition. Our court, in construing a contract in a decision rendered in 1959, said: Applying those principles in analyzing the contract in the instant case, we conclude that the parties did not intend to make the bailee an insurer. The language of the contract clearly indicates that it was the intent of the parties that the bailor would assume all losses due to death from normal or ordinary causes. The contract did not attempt to decide the responsibility of the parties where losses were due to deaths from other causes. In analyzing the contract by reference to the circumstances under which it was made and the matter to which it relates, we note that the bailor sought out the bailee for the care of his cattle when his own facilities were inadequate and that the bailee did not advertise himself as an agister. The bailee's remuneration being merely an equal share of the increase would make unlikely the assumption of an insurer's responsibility. Had the parties intended to make the bailee an insurer, they could have done so easily. We cannot apply the maxim to remake the contract. A more reasonable interpretation of the entire contract is that the bailor assumed all losses due to deaths from normal and ordinary causes, and, as there was no provision therein relating to losses from other causes, that all other losses would be governed by the rules of bailment, consistent with the statutory rule of care required of a depositary or bailee for hire, which is ordinary care. For reasons stated herein, the case is remanded with instructions to the trial court to enter judgment dismissing the complaint. BURKE, C. J., and STRUTZ and TEIGEN, JJ., concur. KNUDSON, J., did not participate.