Pretend you are a Judge, decide this case?
Marianna and Jason Jones were the proprietors of an antique store. They attended auctions frequently to obtain items for their personal use and as inventory for their store. On June 4, 1999, they attended an auction sponsored by Antique Helper in Indianapolis. The rules of the auction were that the sale was without reserve and that all sales were final.
During the course of the auction, the Marianna and Jason purchased a safe for $50 that had been part of the Girard estate. The auctioneer told the bidders that the inside compartment of the safe was still locked, and that the required combinations or keys to unlock the safe were unavailable.
When Marianna took the safe to a locksmith several days later to have the safe opened, the locksmith found $22,000 inside. The locksmith phoned the police who impounded the money. The Girard estate sued to recover the money, and Mr. and Mrs. Jones claimed that the safe and its contents had been sold to them.
I’d grant a Motion for Summary Judgment from the Joneses.
I’d not only award the Joneses possession of the money, plus legal fees for defending this baseless action, and would order the award for legal fees against the Estate, the Estate’s attorney, and the Executor of the Estate personally.
The key fact is that it was known to the seller that there was an unopened compartment, and they sold it in that condition.
Would the Estate be responsible had the compartment contained a live snake? Radioactive material? No, so they don’t get the benefit, either.
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