Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

22 Kan. 436

Wolf v. Dozer

Supreme Court of Kansas

Decided January 15, 1879

Supreme Court of Kansas · decided 1879-01-15

Error from Allen District Court. At the June Term, 1878, of, the district court, Dozer, as defendant, had judgment against Wolf, as plaintiff, who brings the case here. All necessary facts appear in the opinion.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1879-01-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 10 later decisions — most recently December 1928

10 state decisions

30187918801890190019101920decided

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.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1The opinion of the court was delivered by

Horton, C. J.:

¶2The facts of this case are substantially as follows: In August, 1877, the defendant in error was in the possession of certain farm lands belonging to the plaintiff in error, under a lease to expire March 1,1878. Soon after the last-named date, plaintiff brought his action of forcible entry and detainer against the defendant. As his defense, the defendant claimed and offered evidence against objections of plaintiff, that about August 15, 1877, plaintiff made a verbal contract to rent to him the premises another year, beginning March 1, 1878, on the same terms as he then held them. The court instructed the jury that if they found the plaintiff and defendant entered into an agreement for the lease of the premises, in. accordance with the terms and conditions and at the times alleged by the defendant, they must return a verdict in his favor. Upon the testimony of the defendant of the verbal agreement to lease of August, 1877, and this instruction, the defendant obtained a verdict and judgment. It is very clear from these facts that the defendant ought not to have succeeded. The court mistook the law in reference to the case. Under the proof, the agreement was invalid. It was directly in conflict with the act for the prevention of *437frauds and perjuries. It was a verbal agreement to lease lands for the term of one year, to commence from a future day, and therefore void under the provisions of § 6, ch. 43, Gen. Stat.; Ege v. Strafford, 1 Tyrw. 293; 1 Cromp. & J. 389, 391; Inman v. Stamp, 1 Stark. 10; Taylor’s Land. & Ten., § 30; Rawlins v. Turner, 1 Lord Ray. 736; Anon., 12 Wood, 610; Delano v. Montague, 4 Cush. 42.

¶3There was no evidence introduced to take the case out of the operation of said section of the statute of frauds, and we need not consider any other subject of inquiry.

¶4The judgment of the court below will be reversed, and the cause remanded for a new trial.

All the Justices concurring.
/22/kan/436 · .json · Public domain