Drewry v. Thompson Door Co.

47 Fla. Supp. 177
CourtCircuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Broward County
DecidedMay 30, 1978
DocketNo. 76-16950
StatusPublished

This text of 47 Fla. Supp. 177 (Drewry v. Thompson Door Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Broward County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Drewry v. Thompson Door Co., 47 Fla. Supp. 177 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1978).

Opinion

STEPHEN R. BOOHER, Circuit Judge.

Amended and restated final summary judgment of replevin: This cause came on for hearing upon the motion of plaintiff, Edwin C. Drewry, for a final summary judgment of replevin as prayed for in Count I of his first amended and supplemented complaint. The court has made an exhausting review of the extensive court file in this case, including the pleadings, depositions, interrogatory answers, affidavits and exhibits attached thereto, and has heard the arguments of counsel for both parties. Based upon the foregoing, and upon the findings of fact and conclusions [179]*179of law set forth below, the court has determined that there are no disputed issues of fact remaining to be tried with respect to Count I of plaintiff’s first amended and supplemented complaint, and that plaintiff is entitled to a final summary judgment of replevin as a matter of law.

This litigation involves the competing legal rights and interests of plaintiff Edwin C. Drewry and defendants Paley & Tucker in an inventory of plywood and hard wood “doorskins” which were previously stored in a warehouse owned by defendants Paley & Tucker and located in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Plaintiff claimed an ownership interest in certain of the doorskins and a perfected security interest in the remaining doorskins by virtue of his contractual arrangements with Thompson Door Company, Inc., a bankrupt corporation which had maintained its manufacturing facilities within the warehouse owned by defendants Paley & Tucker. Paley & Tucker have maintained throughout this litigation that they had a valid landlord’s lien in the subject doorskins, which lien was prior and superior in dignity to the ownership interest or security interest of plaintiff Edwin C. Drewry in the same property.

On September 14, 1976 defendants Paley & Tucker commenced an action against Thompson Door Company, Inc. for failure to pay rent under a lease agreement relating to the subject warehouse (Case No. 76-14792). In connection therewith, and at the instance of Paley & Tucker, the clerk of the circuit court of Broward County issued a distress writ in favor of Paley & Tucker and against Thompson Door Company, Inc. wherein the sheriff of Broward County was commanded to levy upon the property of Thompson Door Company, Inc. located in the subject warehouse, including the doorskins in which plaintiff Edwin C. Drewry claimed an interest. It is notable that the aforementioned distress writ was issued pursuant to the statutory procedures outlined in §83.11 through §83.19, Florida Statutes, which provisions have been declared unconstitutional by both federal and state courts. See Phillips v. Guin & Hunt, Inc., 344 So.2d 568 (Fla. 1977); Stroemer v. Shevin, U.S.D.C. Southern Dist. Fla. (Case No. 72-1627 - Civ. - W.M.). The sheriff thereafter executed the writ by sealing the warehouse and precluding plaintiff Edwin C. Drewry and all others from obtaining access to the subject doorskins.

In response to the aforementioned actions of Paley & Tucker, plaintiff commenced the present action by filing a complaint naming both Thompson Door Company, Inc. and Paley & Tucker as [180]*180defendants, which complaint sought immediate possession of the subject doorskins pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 78, Florida Statutes. On October 21, 1976, this court entered an order to show cause setting a hearing for November 15, 1976, to determine the right of the plaintiff to obtain immediate possession of the subject doorskins. Counsel for the plaintiff and for defendants Paley &' Tucker appeared before the court on November 15, 1976, and entered into a stipulation wherein Paley & Tucker agreed that a writ of replevin would issue in favor of the plaintiff unless Paley & Tucker obtained and filed a bond in favor of plaintiff in the sum of $145,629 on or before November 29, 1976. It was further stipulated that the entire matter of the parties’ respective interests in the subject doorskins would be litigated to a conclusion before this court if the bond were not timely filed and that defendants would dismiss the distress proceedings to facilitate such a result. Paley & Tucker failed to obtain and file the bond, and on December 7, 1976, this court entered an order directing the clerk of the circuit court of Broward County to issue a writ of replevin instructing the sheriff of Broward County to seize the subject doorskins and deliver possession of same to the plaintiff.

In accordance with their stipulation made in open court, Paley & Tucker filed a notice of partial dissolution of writ of distress on December 7, 1976, in Case No. 76-14792, and on the same date Judge John G. Ferris entered an order which released the subject doorskins from the restraints created by that court’s prior orders.

Beginning on December 13, 1976, the sheriff of Broward County removed the subject doorskins from the warehouse owned by Paley & Tucker, and delivered them to Drewry in compliance with the writ of replevin issued by the clerk of the circuit court on December 7, 1976.

Subsequent to each of the above described occurrences, Drewry filed his first amended and supplemented complaint which contained two separate counts. The first count was nothing more than a restatement of plaintiff’s replevin action commenced under Chapter 78, Florida Statutes. Count II was an action for wrongful distress against Paley & Tucker, seeking recovery for damages allegedly incurred by plaintiff as the result of the actions of Paley & Tucker in institutiong the aforementioned distress proceedings. Paley & Tucker denied the substantive allegations of plaintiff’s first amended and supplemented complaint, and raised the following affirmative defenses —

(a) That the landlord’s lien asserted by Paley & Tucker was superior to any interest of the plaintiff in the subject doorskins.
[181]*181(b) That Paley & Tucker had no actual knowledge of the alleged interest of Drewry in the subject doorskins when the distress for rent proceeding was commenced.
(c) That Drewry had no standing to maintain the present action in that he had assigned his interest in the subject doorskins to Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.).
(d) That plaintiff’s sole remendy to recover possession of the subject doorskins was to intervene in the distress proceedings commenced earlier by defendants as permitted by §83.15, Florida Statutes.

In addition to the above described pleadings, Paley & Tucker have filed a counterclaim and an amended counterclaim against Drewry, the contents of which are not relevant for purposes of this discussion.

On November 1, 1977 Drewry filed a motion for partial summary judgment seeking a declaration by this court that his right to immediate and ultimate possession of the subject doorskins was prior and superior to any right, interest or lien of Paley & Tucker in or to the doorskins. In support of his motion, plaintiff submitted voluminous affidavits and exhibits which outlined in great detail the relationship of plaintiff to Thompson Door Company, Inc., and the basis upon which plaintiff’s ownership interest and security interest in the subject doorskins arose. The only additional proof submitted —by defendants in opposition to plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment (aside from the depositions, interrogatory answers and other discovery already contained in this court’s file) was an affidavit of Alan Tucker dated January 26,1978.

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Related

Phillips v. Guin & Hunt, Inc.
344 So. 2d 568 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1977)
United Bonding Insurance Co. v. Dura-Stress, Inc.
243 So. 2d 244 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1971)
Garwood v. EQUITABLE LIFE ASSURANCE SOC. OF US
299 So. 2d 163 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1974)
Silber v. Campus Sweater & Sportswear
313 So. 2d 409 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1975)
Waldo v. United States Ramie Corp.
74 So. 2d 106 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1954)
Orthwein v. Cobbs Fruit & Preserving Co.
229 So. 2d 607 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1969)

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Bluebook (online)
47 Fla. Supp. 177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/drewry-v-thompson-door-co-flacirct17bro-1978.