Frierson v. Delta Outdoor, Inc.

794 So. 2d 220, 2001 Miss. LEXIS 228, 2001 WL 1047533
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 13, 2001
Docket2000-CA-00405-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 794 So. 2d 220 (Frierson v. Delta Outdoor, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Frierson v. Delta Outdoor, Inc., 794 So. 2d 220, 2001 Miss. LEXIS 228, 2001 WL 1047533 (Mich. 2001).

Opinion

794 So.2d 220 (2001)

Ethel FRIERSON
v.
DELTA OUTDOOR, INC.

No. 2000-CA-00405-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

September 13, 2001.

*222 James L. Gray, Picayune, Attorney for Appellant.

David M. Ratcliff, Laurel, Attorney for Appellee.

EN BANC.

DIAZ, Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. Ethel Frierson appeals a judgment entered against her in favor of Delta Outdoor, Inc. resulting from a breach of contractual obligations. The matter was heard in the Chancery Court of Jones County which found that Frierson entered into a valid lease agreement with Delta Outdoor which she later materially breached. Damages were awarded in the amount of $139,000 to Delta Outdoor. Believing that this finding was unsupported by the evidence presented at trial, Frierson initiated this appeal alleging the following six errors:

I. WHETHER FRIERSON HAD THE MENTAL CAPACITY TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH DELTA OUTDOOR
II. WHETHER FRIERSON AND DELTA OUTDOOR HAD A "MEETING OF THE MINDS" WITH REGARD TO ALL OF THE ESSENTIAL TERMS OF THE CONTRACT
III. WHETHER FRIERSON RECEIVED SUFFICIENT CONSIDERATION UNDER THE CONTRACT
IV. WHETHER FRIERSON, ASSUMING ARGUENDO A VALID CONTRACT EXISTED, HAD THE RIGHT TO RESCIND OR RELINQUISH HER CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS TO DELTA OUTDOOR
V. WHETHER DELTA OUTDOOR, ASSUMING ARGUENDO A VALID CONTRACT EXISTED, SUFFICIENTLY PROVED ITS MEASURE OF DAMAGES
VI. WHETHER JONES COUNTY WAS THE PROPER VENUE FOR THIS ACTION

¶ 2. We find that although a valid contract existed, the damages awarded were too speculative based upon the evidence presented at trial.

FACTS

¶ 3. In the fall of 1997, Phil Wells, representing Delta Outdoor Inc., contacted Ethel Frierson and her daughter, Lyuna Craft, to lease a portion of Frierson's property along Interstate 59 to erect outdoor billboard structures to rent for advertising space. Wells knew Frierson and *223 Craft through previous business dealings with them on behalf of his former employer, Headrick Outdoor, Inc. After some discussion with Frierson and Craft, Frierson signed a five-year lease allowing Delta Outdoor to erect certain structures associated with billboard advertising on her property. In return for access to this property, the lease stipulated that Delta Outdoor would pay Frierson $2600 per year. The lease agreement was signed on January 22, 1998, by the principals in this litigation and witnessed by Craft and Larry W. Frierson, Ethel's son.

¶ 4. At the time the lease was signed, Frierson was still under contract with Lamar Outdoor, Inc.,[1] with the effective date of Delta Outdoor's lease to begin on the day the structure was installed. Lamar Outdoor's lease expired in late April or early May of 1998, depending upon when Lamar Outdoor could successfully remove its billboard structure.

¶ 5. Between January 22, 1998 and sometime in April of 1998, Frierson decided to cancel her lease agreement and erect self-financed billboard structures on her property for the purpose of renting advertising space. Craft, acting on behalf of Frierson, revoked the permission given to the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) to issue a permit for Delta Outdoor's structure through a letter advising MDOT that Frierson was no longer involved in an active lease with Delta Outdoor. Delta Outdoor tried to tender one half of the agreed amount of the lease, but it was refused. Delta Outdoor initiated suit seeking specific performance or recover damages resulting from the breach of the lease contract.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6. When reviewing the decisions of a chancellor on appeal, we employ a limited standard of review. Shirley v. Christian Episcopal Methodist Church, 748 So.2d 672, 674 (Miss.1999). The findings of a chancellor will not be disturbed unless we find that the chancellor was manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous, or applied a wrong legal standard. Id. However, if the chancellor's findings are unsupported by substantial credible evidence, we must reverse. Hammett v. Woods, 602 So.2d 825, 827 (Miss.1992).

LEGAL ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER FRIERSON HAD THE MENTAL CAPACITY TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH DELTA OUTDOOR

¶ 7. Frierson alleges that she did not have the mental capacity to enter into a valid contract when she signed the lease with Delta Outdoor. It appears from the record that this is the first time this issue has been raised. Frierson is procedurally precluded from raising the issue on appeal for the first time. Leverett v. State, 197 So.2d 889, 890 (Miss.1967). This procedural tenet serves a sound purpose in everyday practice. Specific objections are required to avoid costly new trials and to allow the offering party an opportunity to obviate the objection. Id.; Sumrall Church of Lord Jesus Christ v. Johnson, 757 So.2d 311, 316 (Miss.Ct.App.2000). Further, it is well known that the trial court will not be held in error unless it has had an opportunity to pass on the question. Additionally, Rule 9(a) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure specifically requires that pleading insufficient legal capacity be raised in the initial complaint. *224 Frierson failed to plead this special matter.

¶ 8. Procedural bar notwithstanding, we address Frierson's claim. The law presumes a person sane and mentally capable to enter into a contract. Foster v. Wright, 240 Miss. 566, 572, 127 So.2d 873, 876 (1961) (citing Hamilton Brothers Co. v. Narciese, 172 Miss. 24, 158 So. 467, 470 (1935)). The burden is upon the party seeking to avoid an instrument on the ground of insanity or mental incapacity to establish it by a preponderance of proof. Foster, 240 Miss. at 572, 127 So.2d at 876. Frierson has utterly and completely failed to clear this relatively low threshold of proof. The record is devoid of a single iota of evidence related to the state of Frierson's mental capacity. Not one witness broached the topic. This issue is meritless.

II. WHETHER FRIERSON AND DELTA OUTDOOR HAD A "MEETING OF THE MINDS" WITH REGARD TO ALL OF THE ESSENTIAL TERMS OF THE CONTRACT

¶ 9. Frierson believes that no meeting of the minds occurred with Delta Outdoor under the terms of the lease agreement with respect to payment of the agreed upon consideration. Frierson argues that she expected immediate payment of the first installment upon signing the lease and the remainder of the balance to be paid in monthly installments. The terms of the contract clearly indicate that the first annual payment is due when installation of the billboard structure is complete. This Court has consistently held that contracts should be interpreted according to their specific terms and conditions. Warwick v. Gautier Util. Dist., 738 So.2d 212, 215 (Miss.1999). Additionally, where language in a legal instrument is without gross ambiguity, neither parol testimony nor other extrinsic evidence are admissible to construe the meaning of the language. Cooper v. Crabb, 587 So.2d 236, 241 (Miss.1991). Furthermore, the rule announced in Crabb is not merely a rule of evidence, but is one of substantive law. In measuring the rights of parties to a written contract which, on its face, is unambiguous and expresses an agreement complete in all of its essential terms, the writing will control. Sec. Mut. Fin. Corp. v. Willis, 439 So.2d 1278, 1281 (Miss.1983).

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

Related

Untitled Case
N.D. Mississippi, 2026
Williams v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc.
S.D. Mississippi, 2025
Register v. Design 1 Group LLC
S.D. Mississippi, 2024
Ngoc Mai Nguyen v. Elvis Bui
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2022

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
794 So. 2d 220, 2001 Miss. LEXIS 228, 2001 WL 1047533, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frierson-v-delta-outdoor-inc-miss-2001.