Young v. Preston

ERROR to the circuit court for the district of Columbia, in an action of assumpsit, brought by Preston against Young, upon a quantum meruit for work and labour. At the trial below, the defendant, Young, offered in evidence a sealed agreement between the parties, and offered further evidence that the work and labour, for which this action was brought, were done in consequence of that agreement; and prayed the court to instruct the jury that if, from the evidence, they should be of opinion that the said work and labour was done in consequence of the sealed agreement, the action of assumpsit would not lie; which instruction the court refused to give, evidence having been offered to the jury that the plaintiff was prevented from completing the work mentioned in the agreement, by the defendant, who employed another person to finish it.