Collier v. Granger

258 F. Supp. 717, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10075
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 6, 1966
Docket62 Civ. 3985
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 258 F. Supp. 717 (Collier v. Granger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Collier v. Granger, 258 F. Supp. 717, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10075 (S.D.N.Y. 1966).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

MacMAHON, District Judge.

Plaintiff, alleging that the clerk of the court made a mistake in failing to include pre-verdict interest in the judgment filed in this action on May 27, 1966, moves under Rules 59(e) and 60(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to amend the judgment to include such interest. We grant the motion.

On December 6, 1962, plaintiff filed his complaint containing eight separate claims. The first and fourth claims charged defendants with common law fraud and deceit in that they, or their agents, knowingly misrepresented facts concerning Dilbert’s Quality Supermarket, Inc. in connection with the sale of Dilbert’s stock to plaintiff. The eighth claim charged defendants with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 77q. The first and fourth claims were based on diversity; the eighth on Section 22(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 77v. After trial by jury, a verdict was returned for plaintiff on the three claims mentioned.

Insofar as the motion for preverdict interest is predicated on the successful resolution of the diversity claims, the law of New York controls. St. Clair v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 302 F.2d 477, 480 (2d Cir. 1962); Spanos v. Skouras Theatres Corp., 235 F.Supp. 1, 17 (S.D. N.Y.1964). That law has changed since the misrepresentations were made in 1961. At that time, pre-verdict interest in cases of stock fraud was available as a matter of right, Flamm v. Noble, 296 N.Y. 262, 268, 72 N.E.2d 886, 887-888, 171 A.L.R. 812 (1947), as it was in any action “to recover for property damage stemming from intentional torts. * * ” DeLong Corp. v. Morrison-Knudsen Co., 14 N.Y.2d 346, 348, 251 N.Y.S.2d 657, 659, 200 N.E.2d 557, 558 (1964). This decision law was supplemented by Section 480 of the Civil Practice Act which authorized pre-verdict interest in cases involving breach of contract. See DeLong v. Morrison-Knudsen Co., supra. However, by the time this case was tried, in 1966, Section 5001 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) had become effective. Contrary to defendants’ argument, we think pre-verdict interest is still available as a matter of right in a case like this, for only two years ago, the New York Court of Appeals unanimously agreed that § 5001 “expandís] the right to interest in property damage actions.” DeLong v. Morrison-Knudsen Co., supra, at 349, 251 N.Y.S.2d at 660, 200 N.E.2d at 559. Broadly phrased, § 5001 is designed to obliterate all distinctions turning “ ‘on the form of the action * * *, the type of property involved, or the nature of the encroachment upon the plaintiff’s property interests.’ (5 Weinstein-Korn-Miller, N.Y. Civ.Prac., par. 5001.05, at p. 50-16.)” Ibid. Though the Court of Appeals has not yet ruled on the question, lower New York courts have consistently held that CPLR § 5001 applies to cases coming to trial after its effective date (September 1, 1963), even though the events complained of occurred earlier. Phelps v. A. R. Gundry, Inc., 23 A.D.2d 960, 261 N.Y.S.2d 194 (1965); Morris v. New York Cent. R., 20 A.D.2d 753, 247 N.Y.S. 2d 293 (1964); Wilcoxon v. Sun Oil Co., 49 Misc.2d 589, 267 N.Y.S.2d 956 (Sup. Ct. 1966); American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. v. American Mfrs. Mut. Ins. Co., 48 Misc.2d 397, 409-410, 265 N.Y.S.2d 76, 90 (Sup.Ct.1965); Buffalo Oil Terminal, Inc. v. William B. Kimmins & Sons, Inc., 42 Misc.2d 499, 248 N.Y.S.2d 499 (Sup.Ct.1964), aff’d, 23 A.D.2d 970, 260 N.Y.S.2d 621 (1965); Spanos v. Skouras Theatres Corp., supra, 235 F.Supp. at 17. But see, Spadanuta v. Incorporated Village of Rockville Centre, 20 A.D.2d 799, 248 N.Y.S.2d 405 (1964), aff’d, 15 N.Y.2d 755, 257 N.Y.S. 2d 329, 205 N.E.2d 525 (1965).

Having determined that preverdict interest is available as a matter of right, we now decide that it must be *719 computed from the day the fraudulent sale was made, May 16, 1961. This was certainly the proper date under the early \T v i tt j. idecisional law m New York, Hotaling v . A. B. Leach & Co., 247 N.Y. 84, 159 N. E. 870 (1928); Demms v. Blanchard, 150 Misc. 867, 270 N.Y.S. 700 (Sup.Ct.1934), , . ,, , „ ... and under the common law, Smith v. Bolles, 132 U.S. 125, 10 S.Ct. 39, 33 L.Ed. 279 (1889); and though CPLR § 5001 ... ,, , , . , , . (b) provides that pre-verdict interest is ; , „ . , , ... to be computed from the earliest ascer- , . ., j 2. j.,. „ ,. . , , „ tamable date the cause of action existed, , , ,. , ... we think the same date applies, notwith- . standing the fact W damages were not feed, or frozen, until the stock was subsequently sold. Is Hotaling v. A. B. Leach & Co., supra, the Court of Appeals, .. . i*, i. ** . i . r; ,, on facts like these, unanimously held that ...... , . .. pre-verdict interest was due from the . . j. j. , , , ... • i • date of fraudulent sale, thus implying ,, , ., , ,, . , . ,. that though the fraud was of a contmu- , ,, . .. .... mg nature, the cause of action existed at ,, T . ., , the earlier time. In any event, the words (( ... , . ,, . , „ . earliest ascertainable date convince us that the broad purposes sought to be accomplished by § 5001 are best served by a flexible, common sense approach to the question of when the cause of action initially arose.

rcn o 4.- 4Í4.1. • ht, 4.- Section 5004 of the Cm Practice Law and Rules provides that [interest shall be at the legal rate, and Section 5-501 of the New York General Obligations Law, McKinney’s Consol.Laws, c. 24-A provides that the legal rate is 6% per annum. 1 We leave it to the Clerk to compute the amount. The verdict of $10,-915.99, together with the pre-verdict interest computed at 6% from May 21, 1961, to May 25, 1966, should itself draw interest at 6% from May 25, 1966, to the date the amended judgment is entered, CPLR § 5002. After entry of judgment interest on this sum will be computed at 6% per annum. 28 U.S.C. § 1961 (1964 ed.); CPLR § 5003.

r. . .... , , . . . , , Plaintiff also bases his right to recover pre-verdict interest on the successful resolution of his eighth claim brought under the Securities Act of 1933. Under § 77 1 [§ 77 el] of that Act, his recovery is limited to "damages" because he no longer owns the stock in question. However, since the Securities Act of 1933 does not make provision for interest in cases of this complexion, the court may itself award interest in its discretion. Royal Indem. Co. v. United States 313 U.S. 289, 61 S.Ct. 995, 85 L.Ed. 1361 (1941); United States v. United Drill & Tool Corp., 87 U.S.App.D.C.

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258 F. Supp. 717, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10075, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/collier-v-granger-nysd-1966.