Super Fresh/Sav-A-Center, Inc. v. Ashy-Bickham Baker

655 So. 2d 531, 94 La.App. 1 Cir. 2548, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 1306, 1995 WL 272044
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 5, 1995
DocketNo. 94 CA 2548
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 655 So. 2d 531 (Super Fresh/Sav-A-Center, Inc. v. Ashy-Bickham Baker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Super Fresh/Sav-A-Center, Inc. v. Ashy-Bickham Baker, 655 So. 2d 531, 94 La.App. 1 Cir. 2548, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 1306, 1995 WL 272044 (La. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

JaSHORTESS, Judge.

In 1979 Ashy-Bickham Baker (ABB),1 a partnership in commendam, developed a shopping center in Baker, Louisiana. The two original tenants of the shopping center were The Kroger Company (Kroger) and K Mart Corporation (K Mart). K Mart entered into a lease with ABB on May 15, 1979, and Kroger and ABB executed a lease, together with a lease agreement “supplementing and completing” the lease, on August 20, 1979.

On February 1, 1984, Kroger assigned its lease to The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A & P). A & P in turn assigned the lease to Super Fresh/Sav-A-Center, Inc. (plaintiff), on April 19, 1990. On January 5, 1994, K Mart assigned its lease to Albert-son’s, Inc. (Albertson’s). Albertson’s intends to operate a grocery store on the premises.

Plaintiff then filed suit against ABB, Al-bertson’s, and K Mart, seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions and declaratory relief. Plaintiff contends that it is the beneficiary of an agreement between Kroger and K Mart whereby K Mart would not operate a grocery store on its premises, and that its lease with ABB prohibits ABB from leasing any part of the shopping center premises for use as a grocery store. It seeks to enjoin the lease to Albertson’s and to enjoin Albert-son’s from operating a store selling groceries in more than 500 square feet of the shopping center. It also seeks a declaration that if Albertson’s is permitted to sell groceries in more than 500 square feet of the shopping center, ABB has breached its lease and plaintiff is entitled to cancel the lease and recover any damages it may sustain as a result of the breach.

Albertson’s filed a reconventional demand seeking a declaration that its assignment of lease allows it to use the premises for any lawful purpose, including the operation of a ^grocery store, without restriction.2 At the close of plaintiffs case, the trial court granted an involuntary judgment of dismissal, dismissing plaintiffs case and granting Albert-son’s reconventional demand. Plaintiff appeals.

EVIDENTIARY ISSUES

Plaintiff contends the trial court committed two evidentiary errors. First, it complains the trial court erred in sustaining a hearsay objection to a memo signed by C.N. Ballsrud dated March 31, 1975, which plaintiff attempted to introduce during the testimony of Sidney Fazio, the attorney for ABB at the time the original leases were executed. Ballsrud, Kroger’s national property manager, testified he drafted the memo to his real estate managers after reaching an agreement with K Mart. The trial court permitted the document to be filed for the limited purpose of showing “what Mr. Fazio did as a result of what was in the memo.”3 Plaintiff contends the document should have been admitted for all purposes as it was a business record of Kroger.

[534]*534At the time plaintiff sought to introduce the document, it failed to lay a foundation for admission of a business record. Furthermore, Ballsrud testified regarding the agreement, and the document was merely cumulative of his testimony. The trial court did not commit legal error in admitting the memo for a limited purpose rather than for the truth of the statements contained therein.

Plaintiff also complains the trial court erred in sustaining an objection to a question to Boyd Gramling, ABB’s realtor, as to whether K Mart ever objected to ABB granting aj^'food exclusive” to Kroger, stating the trial court “erred in silencing Mr. Gramling during his testimony on this point.” Graml-ing answered the question, then Albertson’s objected because the question assumed K Mart was asked if it objected. The trial court responded: “Lay a foundation. Now, I want to hear names and dates in the conversations.” Plaintiff then dropped the subject entirely without attempting to lay a foundation or proffering Gramling’s testimony.

Plaintiff asked the question again, and Al-bertson’s again objected. The trial court ruled that unless plaintiff could show Graml-ing had ever had communications with K Mart, he could not testify as to whether K Mart objected.

The trial court did not err in requiring a foundation for the question. The trial court did not “silence” Gramling; plaintiffs counsel simply declined to continue the line of questioning, and in doing so failed to preserve any ground for complaint on appeal.

INVOLUNTARY JUDGMENT OF DISMISSAL

A. Plaintiff’s actions against K Mart and Albertson’s

Plaintiff contends the trial court erred in granting an involuntary judgment dismissing its entire suit. In a non-jury case, the trial court may grant an involuntary judgment of dismissal if it determines the plaintiff has failed to present sufficient evidence in his case-in-chief to establish his claim by a preponderance of the evidence. La.C.C.P. art. 1672(B); Hutzler v. Cole, 93-0486, p. 5 (La.App. 1st Cir. 3/11/94), 633 So.2d 1319, 1323, writ denied, 94-0850 (La. 5/13/94), 637 So.2d 1070. In making the determination, the trial court is not required to review the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff but must evaluate the evidence and render a decision based upon a preponderance of the evidence without any special inferences in favor of the opponent to the motion. A dismissal based on Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 1672(B) should not be reversed in Rthe absence of manifest error. Hutzler, 93-0486 at 5-6, 633 So.2d at 1323-1324.

K Mart’s lease did not restrict it from selling groceries. That lease provided: “The premises hereby demised may be used for any lawful purpose.” Plaintiff contends, however, that the “intended use” of the K Mart premises was a “non-grocery” and that Albertson’s cannot use the premises for a non-intended use. Alternatively, plaintiff contends that it was the third party beneficiary of an agreement between K Mart and Kroger whereby K Mart would sell only a very limited amount of groceries4 on its premises, and that Albertson’s assumed this obligation when it assumed K Mart’s lease.

The trial court dismissed the suit because it found plaintiff failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that there was an agreement between K Mart and Kroger. In light of the conflicting evidence in the record, the trial court’s finding that there was no agreement between Kroger and K Mart is a permissible view which is not manifestly erroneous. See Stobart v. State, 617 So.2d 880, 883 (La.1993). Plaintiffs claims against K Mart and Albertson’s based on the existence of that agreement therefore fall. We find no manifest error in the trial court’s decision dismissing plaintiffs suit against K Mart and Albertson’s.

B. Plaintiff’s actions against ABB

Plaintiffs suit against ABB, however, did not turn on the existence of the agreement between K Mart and Kroger. The original lease between Kroger and ABB, which was [535]*535assumed by plaintiff, provides in pertinent part as follows:

Landlord covenants and agrees not to lease ...

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683 So. 2d 894 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1996)

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655 So. 2d 531, 94 La.App. 1 Cir. 2548, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 1306, 1995 WL 272044, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/super-freshsav-a-center-inc-v-ashy-bickham-baker-lactapp-1995.