Cox v. McLaughlin
California Supreme Court
The action was originally brought against the W. P. R. R. Co., the W. P. E. R., the C. P. E. E. Co., and Charles McLaughlin, to foreclose a mechanic’s lien upon a section of the W. P. E. E. Judgment of foreclosure was rendered and the defendants appealed to this Court, where the judgment below was reversed, as will be seen in the report of the case, 44 Cal. 18. When the case was remanded to the lower Court, the plaintiffs amended their complaint by alleging that they were…
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The action was originally brought against the W. P. R. R. Co., the W. P. E. R., the C. P. E. E. Co., and Charles McLaughlin, to foreclose a mechanic’s lien upon a section of the W. P. E. E. Judgment of foreclosure was rendered and the defendants appealed to this Court, where the judgment below was reversed, as will be seen in the report of the case, 44 Cal. 18. When the case was remanded to the lower Court, the plaintiffs amended their complaint by alleging that they were prevented from completing the road within the time prescribed by the contract. The defendants filed demurrers, which were…
1Opinion of the Court
1. The Court erred in excluding the contract as evidence of the value of the work. It was competent to show the reasonable value.
2. The complaint counts upon a special contract in writing not performed by the plaintiffs, but which they allege they were prevented from performing by the defendants, and they seek to recover upon the prices set out in the first contract, without reference to the second. This they cannot do. ( Cutter v. Powell, 2 Smith’s S. C. 506; Ford v. Smith, 25 Ga. 679.)
3. Prevention here could only be by an affirmative act; mere failure to pay did not constitute prevention.…
2Cases cited6 opinions
- Canal Co. v. GordonSupreme Court of the United States · 1868
- Hale v. TroutCalifornia Supreme Court · 1868
- Ford v. SmithSupreme Court of Georgia · 1858
- Wright v. HaskellSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1858
- McCOMB, EX'R v. COMMISSIONERS, ETC.Supreme Court of the United States · 1875
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3Cited by17 opinions
- Cox v. McLaughlinCalifornia Supreme Court · 1881
- Fairchild-Gilmore-Wilton Co. v. Southern Refining Co.California Supreme Court · 1910
- Monson v. FischerCalifornia Court of Appeal · 1931
- Integrated, Inc. v. Alec Fergusson Electrical ContractorCalifornia Court of Appeal · 1967
- Cox v. McLaughlinCalifornia Supreme Court · 1883
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