United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Latta v. Granger, 167 U.S. 81 (1897)

Latta v. Granger

No. 303

Argued April 29, 1897

Decided May 10, 1897

167 U.S. 81

Syllabus

By its decision in Goode v. Gaines, 145 U. S. 141, the Court did not intend to be understood as holding that the rental value after the date of the rendition of the decree had not been satisfactorily determined, and had in mind in that regard only the exclusion from the decree of November 10, 1887, of the amount found due plaintiffs for rent prior to that date, together with interest thereon; nor that the finding by that decree of the then value of the improvements should be disturbed.

The reversal of that decree amounted to nothing more than a vacating of the accounting so as to permit of a modification thereof in particulars pointed out with sufficient precision in the opinion, and it might well be held that the circuit court had no power under the mandate to again go into the questions of rental rate and value of improvements, which had been determined, and that an accounting was only required to bring the amounts, including subsequent taxes, if any, paid by defendant, and interest down to date.

Apart from that, the rent prescribed by the lease did not appear from the extrinsic evidence to be unreasonable or excessive; nor does the additional evidence, when carefully analyzed, all the evidence being taken together, compel to any other conclusion.

It is clear that, under the circumstances, this is not a case for the application of the principle of the acceptance by an appellate court of the conclusions of a master, concurred in by the trial court when depending on conflicting testimony, and this Court cannot permit its views to be overcome by presumptions in favor of the second report and decree.

Page 167 U. S. 82

The case is stated in the opinion.