Wixom

This is an action brought by the owner of a chattel mortgage to recover damages for conversion of the mortgaged property. Judgment having beer entered in favor of defendant, plaintiff appeals therefrom.

The mortgage, which was recorded in the office of the county recorder of Imperial County on the thirteenth day of February, 1920, covered an undivided one-third interest in sixteen bales of cotton of the value of $1,442. The mortgage notes matured May 1, 1920. The balance unpaid thereon at the time of the alleged conversion exceeded one-third of the value of the cotton. The court found that during the months of October and November, 1920, the defendant took and carried away said cotton, and sold and disposed of the same to his own use, pursuant to the terms of a certain agreement dated October 25, 1920, entered into between the defendant and certain other parties, one of which was one of the makers of the notes held by the plaintiff. It is found that, under this agreement, the makers of the notes held by plaintiff were to work on the defendant’s ranch and raise cotton. The defendant was to furnish all moneys for the planting, cultivation, and raising of the cotton, and the title…