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20 Me. 332

Higgins v. Brown

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine

Decided July 15, 1841

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine · decided 1841-07-15

Exceptions from the Eastern District Court, Chandler J. presiding. Assumpsit for money had and received, wherein the plaintiff claimed to recover the proceeds' of the sale of a quantity of wood by the defendant, belonging to the plaintiff. The writ was dated Sept. 30, 1839. In the winter of 1838, the defendant and Daniel Bridges made an arrangement whereby Bridges was to cut and haul to the wharf from land belonging to Brown a quantity of wood. This was done.

Decided 1841-07-15

¶1The opinion of the Court, (Shepley J. being absent,) was by

Weston C. J.

¶2The wood in controversy, the jury have found, was the property of Daniel Bridges, of whom the plaintiff purchased it. The defendant was fully apprized of this fact, having himself sold the wood to Bridges. It appears that he sold it a second time to a third person, and that he has actually received the proceeds. It is very clear, that he holds this money to the use of the plaintiff, to whom the wood belonged, and is liable to his action for it, unless the plaintiff’s remedy has been suspended by the arrangement made with Lake, who received the money as a stakeholder. If this was done by the consent of the plaintiff, which is controverted, when the defendant persuaded'Lake to pay to him the sum he had received without the privity or consent of the plaintiff, in violation of that arrangement, he must be considered as having waived the benfit of it, and ho became at once answerable to the plaintiff, if he was in fact the owner of the wood.

¶3Exceptions overruled.

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