William B. Evans v. Carroll & Co.

Evans alleged in a complaint originally filed in the Montana State Courts charging conversion that he had ordered from defendant Carroll & Co. (a corporation engaged in the brokerage business) 75,000 shares of common stock of Colotah Uranium Co., Inc., a corporation, at a price of seven cents per share, or $5,250.-00. Evans subsequently discovered the stock was “non-deliverable,” i. e., it was deliverable subject to a limitation that such certificate could not be sold or transferred without the prior consent of one William L. Branch, or one Howard P. Carroll. Defendant removed the cause of action to the District Court for the District of Montana under 28 U.S.C. § 1441 (a) and § 1332(a) (1) — diversity. Plaintiff is a citizen of Montana; defendant, a corporate citizen of Colorado.

A jury awarded plaintiff $15,000.00 on his $19,500.00 claim of damage, with interest from March 12, 1956.

Defendant moved the court below for an order setting aside the verdict, and for a judgment non obstante veredicto, upon three principal grounds: One— that there was no showing of a demand by plaintiff sufficient to base a claim of conversion. Two — that the plaintiff had ratified the purchase of the…