Robert E. MacDonnell, as Receiver of the Medina Gas and Electric Light Company, Respondent v. Buffalo Loan, Trust…

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment that the trust company converted the ten corporate bonds when it transferred them to the German-American Bank on December 27, 1890, thereby starting the six‑year statute of limitations; the mortgage’s "choses in action" clause does not encompass a cause of action for conversion, and the extra allowance of costs was proper. Justice Haight dissented, contending that conversion occurred only when the plaintiff demanded the bonds in September 1895 and that the statute of limitations barred the claim; Justice Cullen concurred with the majority but added that the attachment was not a lawful process and thus the surrender was not a conversion.