Knapp

In this action plaintiff sought to recover possession of an automobile alleged to have been wrongfully taken and detained by the defendant. The judgment was adverse to the claim and plaintiff appealed.

The defendant, as the facts appear in the evidence, was the owner of the automobile in question. He desired to sell it and placed an advertisement in a newspaper. A person appeared in answer to the advertisement and pretended that he had a bona, fide purchaser for the automobile. This person arranged a meeting between the owner of the machine and the alleged purchaser, and the parties met, there being present still another individual who posed as a mechanic. To abbreviate the story, suffice it to say that the evidence established that these individuals entered upon a scheme to defraud defendant of his automobile, and they succeeded in getting possession of it by giving a worthless draft. In the course of the transaction, however, they obtained from Lyman, the owner, a bill of sale of the machine. That they acquired no title to the automobile, which they obtained either by committing larceny or the crime of obtaining property by false pretenses (it is immaterial here to determine…