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121 Ind. 119

Ledbetter v. Davis

Indiana Supreme Court

Decided November 20, 1889

Indiana Supreme Court · decided 1889-11-20

<p>Pleading. — Written Instrument. — Filing of Copy. — Where a complaint alleges the execution of a written lease, the filing of a copy properly designated, which copy is set forth in the record, is sufficient.</p> <p>Same. — Exhibit.—Separate Paragraphs of Complaint. — Where a written instrument is filed as an exhibit to one paragraph of a complaint, and appropriately designated, it need not be set out with each paragraph, for one exhibit is sufficient for all the paragraphs of a pleading.</p> <p>Pbadd. — False Statements as to Quantity of Land. — Reliance Upon. — Where false statements as to the quantity of land are made for a fraudulent purpose, the plaintiff who relies upon them will not be denied a recovery because be acted upon the representations without measuring the land.</p>

Relies on Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance v. Hazelett · Dodge v. Pope · Jones v. Hathaway

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1889-11-20

How this case has been cited

Cited by 12 later decisions — most recently July 1981

11 state decisions

6018891890190019101920193019401950196019701980decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Elliott, C. J.

¶1— The appellants insist that a written lease is the foundation of the complaint, and that as it is not incorporated in the pleading or filed as an exhibit, the complaint is bad. The appellants are in error in asserting that the instrument is not filed and referred to in the pleading. It is averred that a written lease was executed, that a copy of it is filed marked exhibit “A,” and a copy thus designated is set forth in the record. This is sufficient. Straughan v. Fairchild, 80 Ind. 598; Whitworth v. Malcomb, 82 Ind. 454; Northwestern, etc., Co. v. Hazelett, 105 Ind. 212.

¶2Where a written instrument is filed as an exhibit to one paragraph of a complaint, and appropriately designated, it need not be set out with each paragraph, for one exhibit is sufficient for all the paragraphs of a pleading. State, ex rel., v. Brown, 80 Ind. 425; Scotten v. Randolph, 96 Ind. 581; Hochstedler v. Hochstedler, 108 Ind. 506.

¶3It is argued that the appellees can not recover damagés caused by their reliance upon the untruthful statements of the appellants, for the reason that by measurement they could have ascertained the truth. There is no merit in this contention. Where false statements as to the quantity of land are made for a fraudulent purpose, the plaintiff who relies upon them will not be denied a recovery because he acted upon the representations without measuring the land. West v. Wright, 98 Ind. 335; Dodge v. Pope, 93 Ind. 480; Jones v. Hathaway, 77 Ind. 14; Campbell v. Frankem, 65 Ind. 591.

¶4The evidence is not in the record and we can not consider the question whether the damages were excessive.

¶5Judgment affirmed.

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