PARKER TRACTOR & IMPLEMENT COMPANY, INC. v. Johnson

819 So. 2d 1234, 48 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1025, 2002 Miss. LEXIS 3
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 10, 2002
Docket98-CA-00457-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 819 So. 2d 1234 (PARKER TRACTOR & IMPLEMENT COMPANY, INC. v. Johnson) 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
PARKER TRACTOR & IMPLEMENT COMPANY, INC. v. Johnson, 819 So. 2d 1234, 48 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1025, 2002 Miss. LEXIS 3 (Mich. 2002).

Opinion

819 So.2d 1234 (2002)

PARKER TRACTOR & IMPLEMENT COMPANY, INC.,
v.
Edward JOHNSON, Jr. d/b/a F & E Farms.

No. 98-CA-00457-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

January 10, 2002.

*1235 Ken R. Adcock, Mark Morrison, Hickman, Goza & Gore, PLLC, Ridgeland, John B. Gillis, Clarksdale, Attorneys for Appellant.

Richard B. Lewis, Ralph Chapman, Dana Swan, Chapman, Lewis & Swan, Clarksdale, Attorneys for Appellee.

EN BANC.

*1236 McRAE, P.J., for the court

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

¶ 1. The motion for rehearing is granted. The original opinions are withdrawn, and these opinions are substituted therefor.

¶ 2. This appeal arose from a judgment of the Coahoma County Circuit Court based on a jury verdict. Edward Johnson, Jr. sued Parker Tractor & Implement Company Parker for negligence and breach of warranty arising from Parker's sale of a combine manufactured by Deere & Company.

¶ 3. The jury returned a general verdict for Johnson and awarded damages of $150,000. The trial court ordered a remittitur of $60,000, reducing the award to $90,000, and entered judgment accordingly. Parker appealed, raising seven assignments of error:

I. WHETHER THE JURY VERDICT WAS ERRONEOUS AS A MATTER OF LAW BASED UPON JOHNSON'S SPECULATIVE AND UNSUBSTANTIATED PROOF OF LOST PROFITS AND DAMAGES, IN ADDITION TO HIS COMPLETE FAILURE TO MITIGATE THE SAME FOR 1996.
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRONEOUSLY PERMITTED THE JURY TO CONSIDER, IN VIOLATION OF MRE 408, TESTIMONY AND DOCUMENTATION REGARDING PRE-TRIAL SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS IN THIS CASE, AS WELL AS A RELATED REPLEVIN ACTION PENDING IN FEDERAL COURT BETWEEN JOHNSON AND DEERE CREDIT CORP.
III. WHETHER COMMENTS BY JOHNSON'S COUNSEL TO THE EFFECT THAT JOHN DEERE OR DEERE & CO. WOULD INDEMNIFY PARKER TRACTOR FOR ANY JUDGMENT RENDERED AGAINST IT CONSTITUTE REVERSIBLE ERROR.
IV. WHETHER THE TRIAL JUDGE'S IMPROPER COMMENTS IN OPEN COURT, INCLUDING COMMENTARY UPON THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, PREJUDICED THE RIGHTS OF PARKER TRACTOR BEFORE THE JURY SO AS TO MERIT A NEW TRIAL.
V. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY REFUSING TO EXCUSE THREE (3) PROSPECTIVE JURORS FOR CAUSE BY REASON OF THEIR, OR A FAMILY MEMBER'S PRIOR REPRESENTATION BY COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE.
VI. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT'S ADMISSION OF THE AMENDED COMPLAINT INTO EVIDENCE, AND ITS PUBLICATION TO THE JURY, CONSTITUTED REVERSIBLE ERROR.
VII. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN INSTRUCTING THE JURY ON THE APPLICABLE LAW GOVERNING BREACH OF WARRANTY CASES.

FACTS

¶ 4. On August 25, 1994, Johnson purchased a John Deere CTS Rice Combine from Parker, a franchised John Deere dealership in Tunica, Mississippi. Parker's salesman, Walter Gray, discussed several combine models with Johnson. Johnson purchased the CTS model with an initial down payment of $30,634.36 and a financing agreement to pay $32,510.75 annually for five years. No payments were made after the down payment.

¶ 5. Appearing at trial as Parker's corporate representative, Gray testified that he knew Johnson planned to do some custom *1237 cutting with the combine, but he did not believe Johnson wanted to do a substantial amount of custom cutting in addition to working on his own farm. According to Gray, Johnson's use of the combine to cut 4,000 acres and for 500 hours over a two and a half year period was an average use for this type of combine and Johnson should not have expected more. He admitted the problems with Johnson's combine were excessive.

¶ 6. The new combine needed several repairs before it was finally delivered to Johnson. Over the next several months after the combine was delivered, Johnson complained about problems with the combine. Gray assured Johnson that any problems would be corrected and that the combine would provide reliable service. The combine had a one-year warranty that covered any problems with the combine. Under the terms of the warranty, either the company or the dealer would take care of any problems that arose with the combine during the warranty period. Johnson was not billed for any repairs or service during the warranty period.

¶ 7. Johnson described the delivery delays caused by wiring and electrical problems with the combine. Johnson said Gray told him the wiring harness had "burned off" and the wiring was being replaced. He also described problems with the air conditioner, wipers, and emergency warning lights.

¶ 8. Junior Ward testified for the defense as an expert in combine mechanics and CTS combines. Ward described the operation of CTS combines and the problems with Johnson's combine. Beginning in September 1994, Ward made numerous service calls to Johnson's farm to work on the CTS combine. The following is a list of problems addressed by Ward on these service calls:

9/7/94     replaced wiring harness, fixed
             air conditioner
9/26/94    replaced cracked fuel filter,
             fixed fuel gauge and fuel sensor
9/29/94    repaired lights and relays
10/4/94    repaired broken fingers in platform,
             replaced broken slip
             clutch
10/28/94   checked vibration in engine at
             high speed
10/31/94   replaced slipped clutch
11/8/94    unloading auger would not swing
             back

Ward never noticed a loss of power when he drove the combine on these service calls.

¶ 9. Johnson's first recorded power complaint did not come until July 13, 1995. To address this problem, Ward took the combine into the Parker shop for repairs. He removed the fuel injection pump and shipped it to Mid South Diesel for testing. Mid South Diesel reported the pump was working properly. While working on the combine, Ward damaged the engine. John Deere replaced the engine, but Johnson said the combine continued to have problems. At the end of July 1995, Ward repaired the hydraulic pump and the transmission.

¶ 10. The greatest complaint, and that which Johnson related was the cause of his losses, was the operating speed of the combine. Johnson complained the combine would travel only 1.7 to 1.9 miles per hour, while he was told by Gray he could expect the combine speed to be from 4.5 to 5 miles per hour. According to Johnson, this more than doubled his harvest-time.

¶ 11. Bernie Wright testified for Johnson as an expert on farm combines and farm equipment. Wright stated Johnson's combine experienced more problems than a new machine should have experienced. He stated a new machine should have traveled 4.5 miles per hour in a clean bean field and 2.5 miles per hour in a clean rice *1238 field. According to Wright, a new CTS combine should have been able to harvest 3,000 to 3,500 acres in a season. Wright also testified custom cutting contracts were not usually in writing.

¶ 12. Ward, Parker's representative, stated that any problems with speed were likely caused by field conditions and the combine would run at about 3 miles per hour under normal conditions. Gray, Parker's corporate representative, stated a speed of 4 to 5 miles per hour in clean soy beans was reasonable.

¶ 13. Johnson made the combine available to John Deere for pick up and replacement in March 1995, but John Deere did not take possession of the combine. As of the date of the trial, the combine remained at Johnson's shop.

¶ 14. Johnson described his losses for 1994 through 1996. In 1994, Johnson cut 1,362 acres of beans, but claimed he could not

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Bluebook (online)
819 So. 2d 1234, 48 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1025, 2002 Miss. LEXIS 3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parker-tractor-implement-company-inc-v-johnson-miss-2002.