Five J's Automotive, Ltd. v. Hughes

Opinion

Five J's Automotive, Ltd., Plaintiff-Appellant,

against

Conrad Hughes, Defendant-Respondent.

Plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the Small Claims Part of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Bronx County (Eddie J. McShan, J.), entered May 7, 2013, after trial, in favor of defendant dismissing the action and awarding defendant damages in the principal sum of $3,800 on his counterclaim.

Per Curiam.

Judgment (Eddie J. McShan, J.), entered May 7, 2013, affirmed, without costs.

Applying the narrow standard of review governing appeals in small claims actions (CCA 1807; see Williams v Roper, 269 AD2d 125 [2000], lv dismissed 95 NY2d 898 [2000]), and giving due deference to the trial court's detailed findings of fact and credibility, we sustain the court's resolution of the property damage issues litigated below. The court, as factfinder, reasonably could have rejected the testimony of plaintiff's witness and credited defendant's testimony that plaintiff, a tow truck operator, improperly "hooked [defendant's vehicle] to its tow truck" and "dropped [it] from the fork of the tow truck," resulting in documented damages to defendant's vehicle. The amount of the damages awarded on the counterclaim - the projected automotive repair costs specified in the lesser of the two repair estimates presented by defendant at trial - finds support in the record and achieved "substantial justice" between the parties (see CCA 1804; Guzman v Ken Ben Indus., Ltd., 28 Misc 3d 131[A], 2010 NY Slip Op 51289[U] [App Term, 1st Dept. 2010]).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.
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Decision Date: May 12, 2016