Perkins v. Sur-Gro Finance, Inc.

778 S.W.2d 751, 1989 Mo. App. LEXIS 1250, 1989 WL 99486
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 29, 1989
DocketNo. WD 39865
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 778 S.W.2d 751 (Perkins v. Sur-Gro Finance, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Perkins v. Sur-Gro Finance, Inc., 778 S.W.2d 751, 1989 Mo. App. LEXIS 1250, 1989 WL 99486 (Mo. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

BERREY, Judge.

The plaintiffs-appellants, Linda Perkins and Linda Perkins as personal representative of the estate of Marvin Perkins, deceased, sued the defendant-respondent, Sur-Gro Finance, Inc., for damages for wrongful execution of crops they owned growing on lands they leased. Farmers Cooperative Grain & Seed Co. intervened in the action, requesting a determination by the court as to its security interest in the crop which was the subject of litigation. The jury found for the plaintiffs-appellants, awarding $6,000 in actual damages and $30,000 in punitive damages. The trial court entered a judgment notwithstanding the verdict taking away the punitive damage award. The trial court also found that the intervenor, Farmers Cooperative, had a validly perfected security interest but, by virtue of having received possession of a portion of that crop sufficient to satisfy its lien interest and then having subsequently voluntarily parted with possession of it, its security interest had been waived.

Plaintiffs-appellants appeal the judgment, claiming that the trial court erred in sustaining Sur-Gro’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict for that portion of the jury verdict granting punitive damages to appellants. Intervenor, Farmers Cooperative, appeals, claiming that the trial court made an incorrect determination that it had waived its security interest in the crop.

On December 15, 1982, plaintiff Linda Perkins and her husband Marvin (now deceased) leased a 160 acre farm in Harrison County, Missouri, from the owners of the farm, Kenneth and Icel Thompson. On September 18, 1984, Sur-Gro obtained a judgment against Clarke Perkins in Clinton County, Missouri, in the principal sum of $13,717.90 plus accrued interest in the amount of $5,421.45. Clarke Perkins is the step-son of Linda Perkins and the son of Marvin Perkins.

Upon obtaining this judgment, the Credit Manager of Sur-Gro, Nancy Brockman, found a U.C.C. financing statement filed with the recorder of Deeds of Harrison County, Missouri, in which Clarke Perkins granted a security interest to Farmers Cooperative described as, “Crops: ¼ of 1985 corn crop grown on 150 acres of land leased by the Debtor from Kenneth & Icel Thompson, in Harrison County, Missouri.” After discovering this statement, Brock-man contacted the local ASCS office to see [753]*753if Clarke had signed up for any programs and to find out what his share actually was. She was advised that Clarke Perkins had a 100 percent share. On October 4, 1985, she went to the sheriff’s department in Harrison County to make an appointment to go out to the field and levy on the crop. The sheriff sent one of his deputies to the field with Brockman and he posted the field in four or five different locations. Clarke was then served with notice of the levy that same day.

Shortly after he was served, Clarke contacted Jim Rakestraw, Sur-Gro’s general manager, and told Rakestraw that while he was the owner of the crop, he had mortgaged one quarter of it to Farmers Cooperative and three quarters of it to Tri-County Fertilizer and Supply Corporation (who had not made a U.C.C. filing on the mortgage). Clarke asked Rakestraw for a figure as to what they would take in cash for the debt. The following morning, Rakestraw telephoned Clarke Perkins but they were unable to come to an agreement. Rakestraw told Clarke that they were going to proceed and harvest the crop. At no time did Clarke inform him about the lease or that any other party had an interest in the grain.

On October 5, 1985, the Sheriff of Harrison County, John Findley, received a copy of the lease of the disputed property. The lease showed Marvin and Linda Perkins to be the tenants and Kenneth and Icel > Thompson to be the landowners and lessors of the property. Sheriff Findley notified Sur-Gro’s attorney about the lease, who in turn discussed the lease with Rakestraw. It was decided that the execution should proceed, because as Rakestraw testified, “It became obvious, looking at all of the documents together, that if Marvin did rent the land from the Thompsons that he obviously subleased it to Clark [sic] because he was giving Clark [sic] the right to give mortgages and the ASCS Office also had Clark [sic] down as a 100 percent owner of the crop.”

On October 8, 1988, Sur-Gro, acting pursuant to the levy, began to harvest the grain. Sur-Gro harvested approximately 2,562.5 wet bushels of corn that had a dry weight of approximately 2,326 bushels. The grain was taken by the Sheriff to the MFA Elevator in Bethany, Missouri, to be weighed, graded and tested. It was then taken to the Sur-Gro facilities in Weston, Missouri, for storage. At the time of the trial, the grain was still stored in Weston.

On October 9, 1985, Linda and Marvin Perkins filed a two-count petition against Sur-Gro seeking injunctive relief and damages for Sur-Gro’s harvest of the com. Sur-Gro filed a counterclaim seeking damages for harvest of the crop while it was under levy. (Marvin had harvested the remainder of the corn on October 31, 1985.) Farmers Cooperative filed a petition to intervene on April 20,1987, claiming a lien on the crop, and on May 11, 1987, the court ordered that it be allowed to intervene. The case was tried before a jury in Mercer County on June 10 and 11, 1987. The jury awarded $6000 in actual damages and $30,-000 in punitive damages to the plaintiffs-appellants. The trial judge took the punitive damages away, entering a judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

The Supreme Court accepted transfer of this matter after opinion and subsequently retransferred the cause for reconsideration in light of Burnett v. Griffith, 769 S.W.2d 780 (Mo. banc 1989).

Plaintiffs-appellants contend that the trial court erred in entering a judgment notwithstanding the verdict as to that portion of the jury verdict granting punitive damages. In review of the trial court’s action in entering a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment was entered, giving that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom. Hinton v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 741 S.W.2d 696, 700 (Mo.App.1987). Furthermore, sustaining a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict should only be done in those cases where all of the evidence and the reasonable inferences to be drawn from that evidence militate so strongly against plaintiffs’ position that there exists no room for reasonable minds [754]*754to differ. Bizzle v. Enterprise Leasing, 741 S.W.2d 84, 85 (Mo.App.1987).

We review the issue of punitive damages in the instant case in light of Burnett v. Griffith, supra. The Supreme Court in Burnett reexamined the punitive damage standards as they apply to intentional torts. The Court in Burnett looks to the Restatement (Second) of Torts to examine the concepts embodied therein and adopts the language of the Restatement in formulating new MAI 10.01. Essentially, “Punitive damages may be awarded for conduct that is outrageous, because of the defendant’s evil motive or reckless indifference to the rights of others.” Restatement (Second) of Torts, section 908(2)(1979); See also MAI 10.01. Burnett dealt with the intentional tort of assault.

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Bluebook (online)
778 S.W.2d 751, 1989 Mo. App. LEXIS 1250, 1989 WL 99486, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perkins-v-sur-gro-finance-inc-moctapp-1989.