Kopperud

The action was brought by the indorsee of a promissory note given in consideration of the sale of a certain stallion. The defense is that there was a failure of consideration by reason of the false and fraudulent representations made by the seller as to the age, soundness, and procreative ability of the horse, and that “a pretended indorsement or assignment of said note was made by the said Norm W. Thompson [the payee] to plaintiff, but said indorsement or assignment was fraudulent and void; that plaintiff, at the time said note was indorsed and assigned to him, knew that the same was without consideration and void, and knew that the said stallion was unsound and diseased in body and was worthless to said defendants, and said plaintiff did then and there conspire with said Norm W. Thompson to cheat and defraud the said defendants by having said note indorsed by said Norm W. Thompson to said plaintiff for the purpose of preventing the said defendants from making their defense of want of consideration when suit should be brought upon said note.”

It may be that the defendants were “stung” as one of the witnesses expressed it; it is quite probable, indeed, that Thompson perpetrated a…