Bench v. Sheldon
New York Supreme Court
This action was commenced in a justice’s court. The plaintiff in his complaint alledged that he had lost a flock of sheep and lambs, and that the defendants, having found where said sheep were, went to the plaintiff pretending not to know where they were, and that it was a matter of risk altogether on their part, and by such false pretenses induced the plaintiff to sell the sheep for $10, when they were in fact worth a much larger sum.
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This action was commenced in a justice’s court. The plaintiff in his complaint alledged that he had lost a flock of sheep and lambs, and that the defendants, having found where said sheep were, went to the plaintiff pretending not to know where they were, and that it was a matter of risk altogether on their part, and by such false pretenses induced the plaintiff to sell the sheep for $10, when they were in fact worth a much larger sum. The defendants denied the allegation of fraud, and that they knew where the sheep were, before they purchased. It appeared from the evidence that the plaintiff…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court, Johnson, J.
Was the defendant, Isaac Sheldon, when he went to the plaintiff to purchase the sheep in question, guilty of a fraud which the law notices, and gives a right of action to redress, in withholding the fact within his knowledge, that the sheep had been found 1 That he was under a strong moral obligation to make the disclosure, none will deny, but the legal duty is not so clear. It was a gross moral wrong and fraud in him to withhold the information, and take advantage of the plaintiff’s ignorance.
The rule in regard to the duty of disclosure, on the part of persons…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Laidlaw v. OrganSupreme Court of the United States · 1817
3Cited by15 opinions
- Dambmann v. . SchultingNew York Court of Appeals · 1878
- Noved Realty Corp. v. A. A. P. Co.Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1937
- Industrial & General Trust, Ltd. v. TodNew York Court of Appeals · 1902
- Potter v. Necedah Lumber Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1899
- Boyer v. StateIndiana Supreme Court · 1908
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