Strutton v. Huntington

847 S.W.2d 138, 1993 Mo. App. LEXIS 116, 1993 WL 18989
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided January 28, 1993·No. No. 17925·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

CROW, Presiding Judge.

Plaintiffs, Darrell Strutton and Rita Strutton (husband and wife), sued Defendants, Arthur Huntington and Shirley Huntington (husband and wife), in four counts. Defendants filed a counterclaim. A nonjury trial produced judgment (a) for Defendants on Plaintiffs’ Counts I, II and III, (b) for Plaintiffs on their Count IV, and [139]*139(c) for Plaintiffs on Defendants’ counterclaim.

Defendants appeal. The first of their two points relied on pertains to Count IV; the second avers the trial court erred in denying the counterclaim. Plaintiffs do not appeal the denial of their Counts I, II and III. Consequently, this opinion concerns only Plaintiffs’ Count IV and Defendants’ counterclaim.

By Count IV, Plaintiffs pled a claim in quantum meruit1 for materials and labor for improvements to a house owned by Defendants, referred to in the record as “House No. 2.” Plaintiffs made the improvements while they occupied the house from November, 1984, to January, 1989. The trial court found:

Plaintiffs provided materials and labor for improvements to House No. 2 under circumstances indicating that the Defendants knew or should have known that plaintiffs would expect to be reimbursed for the reasonable value of such materials and labor in the event plaintiffs vacated House No. 2.

The trial court further found (a) the materials furnished by Plaintiffs had an aggregate value of $8,986.72, (b) the reasonable value of Plaintiffs’ labor was $5.00 per hour, (c) the reasonable value of Plaintiffs’ labor in the aggregate was $3,990.00, and (d) Defendants paid Boatmen’s Bank of Pulaski County interest and principal totaling $4,429.93 on a note for which Plaintiffs were liable, the proceeds of which had been used to pay for improvements to House No. 2.

The trial court added the amount in clause “(a)” to the amount in clause “(c),” producing a total of $12,976.72. From that sum, the trial court deducted the amount in clause “(d),” leaving a balance of $8,546.79. The trial court awarded Plaintiffs the latter amount on Count IV.2

In their counterclaim, Defendants alleged Plaintiffs damaged House No. 2 “and committed waste thereon” while living there or upon departure. As a result, averred Defendants, they incurred expense for repairs and cleanup, “all to [their] damage in the sum of Five Thousand Dollars.”

The trial court found no facts in its adjudication of Defendants’ counterclaim. The judgment simply states:

The Court finds for the Plaintiffs as to all issues plead in Defendants’ Counterclaim.

Defendants’ first point relied on reads:

The trial court erred in awarding [Plaintiffs] $3,990.00 for the reasonable value of labor performed for the following reasons:
1. Because of a mathematical error in addition, the total amount should be $1,995.00 and not $3,990.00 (assuming any should be allowed).
2. No expert testimony was presented as to the “reasonableness” of the amount claimed.
3. There was no evidence as to the $5.00 amount per hour found by the court.
4. [Plaintiffs] did not perform the labor with the expectation or intention of being paid and said labor was gratuitous.

Our review of this judge-tried case is governed by Rule 73.01(c),3 as construed by Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30 (Mo. banc 1976). The judgment will be sustained unless there is no substantial evidence to support it, unless it is against the weight of the evidence, unless it erroneous[140]*140ly declares the law, or unless it erroneously applies the law. Id. at 32[1]. Credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony was a matter for the trial court, which was free to believe none, part, or all of their testimony. Herbert v. Harl, 757 S.W.2d 585, 587[1] (Mo. banc 1988). In determining the sufficiency of the evidence, we accept as true the evidence and inferences from it favorable to the judgment, and disregard all contrary evidence. T.B.G. v. C.A.G., 772 S.W.2d 653, 654[2] (Mo. banc 1989).

So viewed, the evidence establishes that in 1978, Defendants owned a business, Ozark Transmission, in Pulaski County, Missouri. Defendant Arthur Huntington (“Tom”4) operated it. Tom hired Plaintiff Darrell Strutton to work at Ozark Transmission. Darrell is the brother of Tom’s wife, Shirley. Besides salary, Tom agreed to provide a house in which Plaintiffs could reside.

At that time, Defendants owned a house, referred to in the record as “House No. 1.” Darrell began working for Ozark Transmission in July, 1978, and he, Rita and their children moved into House No. 1.

Darrell remained employed at Ozark Transmission the next six years, during which Plaintiffs occupied House No. 1. About November 1, 1984, Defendants allowed Plaintiffs to move into House No. 2, which Defendants had recently bought. Pertinent to Defendants’ first point, Darrell testified:

Q. ... What was your agreement about [House No. 2]?
A. If we ever split, I give [Tom] back what he had in it, or he’d give me back what I had in it.
Q. All right. Now, after you moved into it, did you discuss with him the making of improvements on the home?
A. Yes.
[[Image here]]
Q. What was your agreement?
A. The money I had into it would go — He’d pay me back or what he had into it, I’d pay him back.
[[Image here]]
Q. He told you that before you ever started making any improvements, did he not; that he couldn’t afford to make any improvements on it?
A. I would have to make them.
[[Image here]]
Q. You indicated that the conversation was that, if you ever split up, you would get what you had in it, and he would get what he had in it; is that correct?
A. Right.
[[Image here]]
Q. ... What I’m getting at, “Was there any discussions about, “If we split up, I’m to get whatever money I have in it and improvements, no matter how much that might be”?
A. Right.
[[Image here]]
Q, ... Did you ever tell Mr. or Mrs. Huntington how much money you were spending in putting into this house?
A. No. He was down there every day. He looked at it.
[[Image here]]
Q. Now, did you ever explain to Mr. Huntington that you were going to make a charge and consider what labor you had in it as something that would have to be paid back, if you split?
A. I never — The deal was he gives me back what I had into it.
Q.

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Strutton v. Huntington, 847 S.W.2d 138, 1993 Mo. App. LEXIS 116, 1993 WL 18989 (Mo. Ct. App. 1993).

847 S.W.2d 138 (Strutton v. Huntington) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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