Hilborn v. Bucknam
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
On motion to set aside the verdict. The case and material facts are stated in the opinion. Actual violence is not necessary to constitute duress, because consent is the very essence of a contract, and if there be compulsion, there is no actual consent, and moral compulsion, such as that produced by threats to take life, or to inflict great bodily harm, as well as that produced by imprisonment, is everywhere regarded as sufficient, in law, to destroy free agency, without…
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On motion to set aside the verdict. The case and material facts are stated in the opinion. Actual violence is not necessary to constitute duress, because consent is the very essence of a contract, and if there be compulsion, there is no actual consent, and moral compulsion, such as that produced by threats to take life, or to inflict great bodily harm, as well as that produced by imprisonment, is everywhere regarded as sufficient, in law, to destroy free agency, without which there can be no contract, because there is no consent. 7 Wallace, 215; 16 Wallace, 431; 26 Am. Dec. 374, note; 5 Hill,…
1Opinion of the CourtWaltoN, J.
The plaintiff claims that the defendants obtained •one thousand and seventy-five dollars from him by duress, and .he has recovered a verdict for that amount with interest.
The ouly question we find it necessary to consider is whether this verdict is not so clearly against the weight of evidence as «to make it the duty of the court to set it aside and grant a new trial.
We think it is. In the opinion of the court, the evidence falls very far short of establishing duress.
The case shows that the defendants had lost large quantities ■of meal from their mill, and that, with the aid of a detective,…
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