Automotive Acceptance Corporation v. Powell

234 So. 2d 593, 45 Ala. App. 596, 1970 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 513
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMarch 25, 1970
Docket1 Div. 2
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 234 So. 2d 593 (Automotive Acceptance Corporation v. Powell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Automotive Acceptance Corporation v. Powell, 234 So. 2d 593, 45 Ala. App. 596, 1970 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 513 (Ala. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

*599 BRADLEY, Judge.

This case arose as.a result of an action .being, filed-by the plaintiff below, appellee here,-against'defendants, W.■ E. Timmerman, personally,, and doing business as Auto •Bargain. Center and Automotive. Acceptance Corporation, a corporation, for the. alleged conversion of a used automobile and •trespass in its repossession.

From a .general verdict and judgment of '$1500.00 for the plaintiff against Automotive Acceptance Corporation only, the defendant appeals;

There were ten assignments of error filed by the appellant. In brief, the fourth assignment of error was not argued, hence it is considered to have been waived. Supreme Court Rule 9.

The appellee purchased a used 1963 •Chevrolet automobile from A. B. C. Motors, Mobile, Alabama on September 12, 1964. 'The contract of sale-' revealed that $630 was paid as a down payment, and payments of ;$87.83 per month were to be made there,after, with the first one due on October 12, 1964, until the balance of $2,669.90 was paid.

The purchase agreement was styled con•ditional sales contract, but had attached to it a . promissory note signed by both the appellee- and his wife;Subsequent- to the \purchase by appellee,-. the ■ note and conditional sales contract,-.or- chattel mortgage, ■were either sold or assigned to the. appellant, Automotive Acceptance Corporation.

The October 1964 payment was made on time, but the November 1964 payment was .not made, and on- November 16, 1964 the -automobile was repossessed from the appeliee -by a Louisiana- detective in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The appellee stated that he was working in- Baton Rouge and his wife was visiting him, and had driven the car from Mobile, Alabama.

The testimony was to the effect also that appellee.offered to pay to the detective the late installment and commented that “it was only four days late,” but the detective refused the preferred payment and said that he had' told his employer .that the repossession' was a little' hasty.

The evidence further showed that the appellee, on the day after the repossession, called A. B. C. Motors and offered to pay the delinquent installment but was told he would have to pay the entire amount due :on the car before he could regain possession of it.

The testimony revealed that after the repossession, the automobile stayed on the lot of A. B. C. Motors for about one year.

Appellant contends, in his first assignment of error, that the trial court erred in refusing his motion for a new trial.

This assignment is grounded on the conténtion that the jury’s verdict is incon.sistent'because it found against Automotive Acceptánce Corporation, yet absolved A. B. C. Motors.

Appellant submits that liability could attach to ' Automotive Acceptance Corporation only through A. B. C. Motors and Jones, the Louisiana detective, as its agents, and there was no evidence establishing such an agency-relationship.

Appellee says the verdict is -not inconsistent and cites us to the Alabama Court of Appeals case of American Discount Co. v. Wyckroff, 29 Ala.App. 82, 191 So. 790.

We feel that the American Discount Co. case is distinguishable from the case at bar, for that in the cited case,. although, there was a repossession of an automobile, the contract was not in default;second, the agent was'-not-joined as a party-defendant -tó the-áction; and, third, employees-of' the *600 defendant company, not an employee of the defendant’s agent, repossessed the automobile.

Therefore, based on the facts in the cited case, we deem American Discount Co., supra, to be inapplicable to the case at bar.

Appellant, on the other hand, cited us to the cases of American Southern Ins. Co. v. Dime Taxi Service, Inc., 275 Ala. 51, 151 So.2d 783 and R. L. Turner Motors v. Hilkey, 260 Ala. 577, 72 So.2d 75, in support of the proposition that the verdict was inconsistent.

In American Southern Ins. Co., supra, the Supreme Court of Alabama said:

“ * * * Our cases establish the rule that where a defendant is held liable only because he is responsible for the act of another, he cannot be held liable if such other is exonerated. * * * And where the master and servant are sued jointly, a judgment against the master absolving the servant of liability for tort committed by the servant is inconsistent and must be set aside.”

And, in R. L. Turner Motors v. Hilkey, supra, the Supreme Court held that where the verdict is inconsistent, a new trial should be granted.

In the case at bar, the only means of attaching liability to the appellant would be through A. B. C. Motors as its agent, but the jury found A. B. C. Motors not to be liable. Consequently, the jury verdict finding against the master, Automotive Acceptance Corporation, and for the agent, A. B. C.- Motors, where the agent allegedly committed the tort, is inconsistent, and a new trial should have been granted.

In his assignment of error numbered two, appellant says that the trial court erred in giving, at the request of appellee, the following requested charge:

“I charge you, members of the jury, that apparent authority means the authority which it seems that a person working for another person, firm or corporation has when doing certain acts, and that the employer is bound by the acts of such agent, servant or employee who acts with such apparent authority and accepts the benefits of such acts.”

Appellee says there was evidence in the record revealing an agency relationship, but, whether there was or not, is a question for the jury. In delineating the evidence from which an inference of agency could be drawn, the appellee directs our attention to the following pages of the transcript:

(P. 81)
“Q. Did he tell you who he was working for?
“A. Yes. He said he was hired by A. B. C. Motors.
* * * * * *
“Q. Then what? Did he say anything about calling anybody?
“A. Yes. He told me to call and see if I couldn’t get it straightened out.
******
(p. 84)
“Q. What did he say?
“A. * * * and maybe, by that time I would be in touch with Mr. Timmerman or someone from A. B. C. to get it straightened out.
******
(p. 87)
“Q. All right sir, on direct examination, your lawyer asked you, did the man, who came to your hotel room, tell you who he was working for and your answer was that he said he had been hired by A. B. C. Motors. Is that what you testified to ?
“A. Yes sir.
Q.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bain v. Colbert County Northwest Alabama Health Care Authority
233 So. 3d 945 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2017)
Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co.
910 F. Supp. 2d 1188 (D. South Dakota, 2012)
Halper v. Jewish Family & Children's Service
963 A.2d 1282 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
Brown Ex Rel. Brown v. St. Vincent's Hosp.
899 So. 2d 227 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2004)
Kingvision Pay-Per-View, Ltd. v. Ayers
886 So. 2d 45 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2003)
Gardner v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.
842 So. 2d 1 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2002)
Greene v. Associates (In Re Green)
248 B.R. 583 (N.D. Alabama, 2000)
Lahm v. Burlington Northern Railroad
571 N.W.2d 126 (Nebraska Court of Appeals, 1997)
BIRMINGHAM-JEFF. TRANSIT AUTH. v. Arvan
669 So. 2d 825 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1995)
Malmberg v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
644 So. 2d 888 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1994)
Bird v. Auto Owners Ins. Co.
572 So. 2d 394 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1990)
Chamlee v. Johnson-Rast and Hays
579 So. 2d 580 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1990)
Ward v. Diebold, Inc.
486 So. 2d 1261 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1986)
Independent Life & Acc. Ins. Co. v. Parker
470 So. 2d 1289 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1985)
Orr v. Crowder
315 S.E.2d 593 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 1984)
Northington v. Dairyland Ins. Co.
445 So. 2d 283 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1984)
Massey-Ferguson, Inc. v. Laird
432 So. 2d 1259 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1983)
Morrison's Cafeteria of Montgomery, Inc. v. Haddox
431 So. 2d 969 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
234 So. 2d 593, 45 Ala. App. 596, 1970 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 513, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/automotive-acceptance-corporation-v-powell-alacivapp-1970.