Hinners v. Robey

336 S.W.3d 891, 2011 Ky. LEXIS 39, 2011 WL 1089593
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 24, 2011
Docket2009-SC-000389-DG
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 336 S.W.3d 891 (Hinners v. Robey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Kentucky Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hinners v. Robey, 336 S.W.3d 891, 2011 Ky. LEXIS 39, 2011 WL 1089593 (Ky. 2011).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

Justice VENTERS.

Appellant, Gerald S. Hinners, a .Kentucky resident, appeals from an opinion of the Court of Appeals determining that Ap-pellee, Brad Robey, a Missouri resident, is not subject to personal jurisdiction in Kenton Circuit Court. Hinners sued Robey over the purchase of a vehicle which Robey had advertised for sale on the Internet auction site, eBay.com. Hinners contends that the requirements of Kentucky’s long-arm statute, KRS 454.210, and federal due process standards for in personam jurisdiction over Robey in relation to the transaction, were satisfied.

While we conclude that this particular eBay transaction falls within the parameters of KRS 454.210, we further conclude that this single contractual transaction fails to establish sufficient minimum contacts with Kentucky so as to make it reasonable under federal due process standards for Kentucky courts to exercise personal jurisdiction over Robey in relation to the vehicle sale. We accordingly affirm the Court of Appeals.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In the light most favorable to Hin-ners, 1 the facts are as follows. Robéy, doing business as Robey’s Pawn World, is located in Sikeston, Missouri, and Hinners is a resident of Kenton County, Kentucky. In September 2005, Robey advertised for sale, on an eBay 2 auction, a 20Ó2 Cadillac Escalade. The listing described the vehicle as having no prior collision damage, no electrical problems, that it ran remarkably quiet, and that it was “better than average.” The listing also advertised a warranty consisting of a “[f]ree 1 month/1,000 mile Service Agreement.”

At the conclusion of the auction, Hin-ners’s bid of $25,869.00 stood as the winning offer. In accordance with the conditions of the auction, Hinners traveled to *894 Missouri 3 to complete the transaction and take possession of the vehicle. In association with the transfer, Robey executed the necessary vehicle transfer documents to enable the registration of the vehicle in Kentucky, and the vehicle was subsequently titled and registered in this state. When Hinners took possession of the vehicle, Robey again assured him that the vehicle had never been damaged. At the completion of the sale, the parties renegotiated the sales price at $23,000.00 rather than the bid amount. 4

Immediately after Hinners returned to Kentucky with the vehicle, its electrical system malfunctioned. Hinners took the vehicle to a mechanic for inspection, and was told that the vehicle had suffered extensive prior damage; that almost every panel on the vehicle had been damaged and had been either replaced or filled with body putty; that the vehicle had been completely repainted; and that the front doors and glass had been replaced. Shattered window glass was found in various locations in the vehicle. Following the purchase, Hinners took the vehicle in for repairs on at least six occasions, principally for electrical problems.

Hinners unsuccessfully attempted to contact Robey op several occasions to discuss the matter and to attempt to enforce the .warranty advertised on the eBay listing. Having received no response, on December 22, 2005, Hinners filed a Complaint against Robey in Kenton Circuit Court. The Complaint alleged “that the Defendant defrauded the Plaintiff in that the Defendant knew,- or should have known that the vehicle had been extensively damaged and failed to disclose that information to the Plaintiff.”

Robey moved pursuant to CR 12.02(b) to dismiss the Complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction on the grounds that he was a non-resident defendant and was not otherwise subject to in personam jurisdiction under Kentucky’s long-arm statute, KRS 454.210, or under federal due process minimum contact standards. The trial court, however, concluded that it had personal jurisdiction over Robey. After entry of the order overruling his motion to dismiss, Robey failed to further participate in the proceedings. As a consequence, and upon motion by Hinners, the trial court entered a default judgment in favor of Hinners and awarded him damages of $86,320.05. 5 Ro-bey appealed the judgment.

The Court of Appeals, relying in significant part upon similar eBay and Internet cases from other jurisdictions, reversed the trial court’s order, concluding that the transaction was a random, fortuitous, and attenuated contact with this state, and, accordingly, that Robey did not have sufficient minimum contacts with Kentucky to allow a Kentucky court to assert personal jurisdiction over him.

We granted discretionary review to examine in personam jurisdiction issues in *895 relation to Internet sales transactions, such as an eBay auction.

STANDARD OF REVIEW/BURDEN OF PROOF

When a lawsuit is filed in Kentucky against a non-resident defendant, the plaintiff carries the burden of establishing jurisdiction over the defendant. Auto Channel, Inc. v. Speedvision Network, LLC, 995 F.Supp. 761, 763 (W.D.Ky.1997). Because the circuit court did not conduct an evidentiary hearing on the issue of personal jurisdiction in considering Robey’s motion to dismiss pursuant to CR 12.02, Hinners “need only make a prima facie showing of jurisdiction.” CompuServe, Inc. v. Patterson, 89 F.3d 1257, 1262 (6th Cir.1996) (Applying federal counterpart to CR 12.02). 6 Hinners can meet this burden by “establishing with reasonable particularity sufficient contacts between [Robey] and the forum state to support jurisdiction.” Neogen Corp. v. Neo Gen Screening, Inc., 282 F.3d 883, 887 (6th Cir.2002) (citing Provident Nat’l Bank v. California Fed. Savings & Loan Ass’n, 819 F.2d 434, 437 (3d Cir.1987)).

The question of whether our courts may exercise personal jurisdiction over Robey is an issue of law, and so our review is de novo. Appalachian Regional Healthcare, Inc. v. Coleman, 239 S.W.3d 49, 53-54 (Ky.2007) (“The question of jurisdiction is ordinarily one of law, meaning that the standard of review to be applied is de novo”).

IN PERSONAM JURISDICTION OVER ROBEY IS CONFERRED UNDER KRS m.210

In the recent case Caesars Riverboat Casino, LLC v. Beach, 336 S.W.3d 51 (Ky.2011), we reevaluated the requirements for long-arm jurisdiction against a nonresident defendant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
336 S.W.3d 891, 2011 Ky. LEXIS 39, 2011 WL 1089593, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hinners-v-robey-ky-2011.