Gunn Infiniti, Inc. v. O'BYRNE

963 S.W.2d 787, 1998 WL 28098
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 25, 1998
Docket04-97-00270-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 963 S.W.2d 787 (Gunn Infiniti, Inc. v. O'BYRNE) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gunn Infiniti, Inc. v. O'BYRNE, 963 S.W.2d 787, 1998 WL 28098 (Tex. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinions

OPINION

HARDBERGER, Chief Justice.

INTRODUCTION

This is an appeal from a jury finding against appellant, Gunn Infiniti, on Texas Deceptive Trade-Practices Act (DTPA) and common law fraud claims. The basis of the suit was that Gunn sold appellee, David O’Byrne, a damaged and repaired car, but said that it was new and undamaged. When O’Byme found out the truth, he sued. The jury awarded O’Byrne $21,500 in actual damages and $50,000 in exemplary damages, plus attorney’s fees. We affirm the judgment.

FACTS

In July 1993, O’Byme, a resident of Shreveport, Louisiana, began looking for an Infiniti G-20. O’Byrne knew exactly what he wanted: a 1993 black Infiniti G-20 with tan interior. He could not find one in Louisiana, so he began searching in Texas. His search eventually led him to San Antonio’s Gunn Infiniti, where representatives told him that they had the exact car he wanted. O’Byrne flew from Shreveport to San Antonio and purchased the car. He testified that he questioned Gunn’s representatives on the phone and upon his arrival about any possible repairs or damage to the car and was assured that the car was in perfect condition. A Gunn representative told him that the car had a driver’s side air bag; a sticker under the hood also stated this.

About a week after purchasing the car, O’Byme was washing it when he noticed some paint splatters on the wheel. Further inspection gave him reason to believe that the hood had been taken off; the bolts had been “tooled.” O’Byme also noticed a rough, dull look to the front air vents on the bumper that suggested that the car had been repainted. On a later date, O’Byrne also learned that the car did not have an air bag.

O’Byme phoned Gunn Infiniti and demanded to know the truth. The saleswoman who had sold him the car initially denied that she knew of any repairs. However, she ultimately admitted that the hood had been replaced1 and the door repaired. She explained that the door had been “dinged” on the lot.' She also admitted that she had located the car in the repair shop. According to O’Byrne, the saleswoman told him that she had not informed him about the repairs because she believed they were minor. At trial, it was disclosed that the car had also been in for more extensive repairs at Gunn Oldsmobile. These repairs were performed on the ear’s fender, hood, roof, and deck lid. Both persons involved in the sale of the vehicle testified they had no knowledge of these repairs, although one employee admitted at trial that someone at Gunn Infiniti would have to have known about them.

A few days after O’Byme’s phone call to Gunn Infiniti, the manager at Gunn contacted O’Byme and attempted to initiate negotiations to resolve the problem. Gunn first offered to find an identical car. This offer was accepted by O’Byme, but Gunn could not find an identical car. Gunn then offered to get O’Byrne a 1993-and-one-half model. O’Byme refused this offer. Gunn then offered to obtain a red G-20 for O’Byme, but O’Byme reminded Gunn that he had bargained for a black car. Gunn offered to paint it and add some money. O’Byrne refused. Negotiations finally came to a close on a disputed note. Gunn said it offered to refund the entire price of the car, O’Byrne’s original airfare to San Antonio, and pay to have the car brought here from Shreveport. O’Byme said that no one offered him airfare and that Gunn was going to deduct for the mileage on the car.

[791]*791O’Byme testified that although he drove the car for a year or so while negotiations with Gunn Infiniti broke down and a lawsuit was initiated, he eventually became so distraught that he could hardly stand to look at it, let alone drive it. During the year immediately preceding trial, he testified that he only put 5,000 miles on the car. He testified that his friends gave him grief over having purchased such a lemon. The Infiniti dealership in Shreveport also got in their licks. There were a few other problems with the vehicle, such as a faulty electric window.

O’Byrne and two experts estimated that there was a $10,000-$10,500 disparity between what he paid for and what he got in his new ear. In addition to these actual damages, O’Byrne requested additional or exemplary damages on the basis of Gunn’s acting knowingly or on the outrageousness of the fraud. He requested and received damages for mental anguish. He also requested attorneys’ fees. The jury agreed with him that Gunn had violated the DTPA and had committed common law fraud. It also awarded him additional damages under a hybrid question on that issue.

Gunn raises nine points of error: (1) that the trial court committed error by not instructing the jury on an affirmative defense of mitigation of damages or by not at least giving them an instruction on mitigation; (2) that the trial court committed error by combining exemplary damages and DTPA additional damages in one jury question; (3) that the jury’s answer on economic loss is based on either legally insufficient or factually insufficient evidence because O’Byme cannot recover for the absence of an air bag when that model didn’t have an air bag; (4) that the jury’s finding of mental anguish damages is not supported by legally or factually sufficient evidence; (5) that the jury’s finding on common law fraud is not supported by legally or factually sufficient evidence; (6) that the jury’s finding that Gunn Infiniti acted knowingly is not supported by legally or factually sufficient evidence; (7) that there was no legally sufficient evidence to support an instruction on exemplary damages; and (8) that there was no factually sufficient evidence to support a question on exemplary damages, and the jury’s finding was against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence. Finally, Gunn requests a modification of the award of attorneys’ fees in the event this court reduces O’Byme’s damages.

POINTS OF ERROR ONE AND TWO: CHARGE ERROR

Standard of Review

A trial court has broad discretion in submitting issues and instructions to the jury. Gunn Buick, Inc. v. Rosano, 907 S.W.2d 628, 632 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1995, no writ). The charge will be reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. Id. Under this standard, if the ruling involves an issue of fact, a reviewing court may not reverse unless “the trial court could reasonably have reached only one decision.” Walker v. Packer, 827 S.W.2d 833, 840 (Tex.1992). If the ruling is a question of law or a mixed question of law and fact, however, the trial judge’s failure to analyze or apply the law correctly will constitute an abuse of discretion. Id. Of course, any charge error must be harmful in order to be reversed. See Tex.R.App. P. 44.1(a)(1) (no judgment will be reversed on basis of trial court’s error of law, unless the error probably caused the rendition of an improper judgment). However, generally, if a trial court refuses to submit a properly requested issue on a vital defense that was pleaded and supported by more than a scintilla of evidence, the court of appeals will reverse. L & F Distributors v. Cruz, 941 S.W.2d 274, 283 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1996, writ denied).

Duty to Mitigate

In its first point of error, Gunn complains that the trial court committed harmful error by not submitting a jury question on its proposed affirmative defense of mitigation of damages or submitting its proposed instruction on mitigation.

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Bluebook (online)
963 S.W.2d 787, 1998 WL 28098, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gunn-infiniti-inc-v-obyrne-texapp-1998.