Adams

This is an action for the recovery of secret profits claimed to have been made by the defendants through a real estate transaction. A jury brought in a verdict for $11,000 in favor of the plaintiff and the defendants have appealed from the ensuing judgment. The defendant R. E. Harrison, who will be referred to as the appellant, was a real estate agent in San Diego and practically the sole owner of two corporations named R. E. Harrison Co. and Rae Investment Company.

The respondent, who resided in Ohio, had met the appellant, during a visit to San Diego in 1921. On April 10, 1922, the appellant sent a telegram to the respondent, saying he had just obtained a 30-day contract on the Otay ranch, consisting of 7,000 acres, praising its investment possibilities and asking the respondent to buy it. About that time the appellant contracted to purchase from a Mr. Judson about 6,360 acres of land known as the Otay ranch, and by a separate contract agreed to purchase from Judson an additional 1,000 acres which adjoined the Otay ranch. Both parcels were thereafter frequently referred to by the parties as the ‘" Otay Ranch”. On April 1, 1922, Judson deeded the 1,000 acres to the Rae…