Seasons Coal Co., Inc. v. City of Cleveland

Decision Date18 April 1984
Docket NumberNo. 83-383,83-383
Parties, 10 O.B.R. 408, 38 UCC Rep.Serv. 469 SEASONS COAL COMPANY, INC. et al., Appellants, v. CITY OF CLEVELAND, Appellee.
CourtOhio Supreme Court

Climaco, Seminatore, Lefkowitz & Kaplan Co., L.P.A., John R. Climaco and Paul S. Lefkowitz, Cleveland, for appellants.

John D. Maddox, Director of Law, Michael A. Pohl and Richard F. Horvath, Cleveland, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

The appellee city contends that its contract with appellant Seasons was void for fraud because the affidavit submitted with Seasons' bid contained a forged signature. The city also argues that the contract with Seasons was void because the alleged forged affidavit was submitted by Seasons in order to evade the competitive bidding requirements set forth in Section 108 of the Cleveland City Charter. 1

After reviewing extensive testimony and numerous exhibits, the trial court held, inter alia, that there was no intent to defraud the city on the part of Seasons, and that the contract was entered into in accordance and compliance with the Cleveland City Charter.

The central issue before us in the case sub judice is whether the trial court's ruling that the forged affidavit did not constitute fraud in the inducement and did not violate Section 108 of the Cleveland City Charter was correctly reversed by the court of appeals as being against the manifest weight of the evidence.

In reviewing the trial judge's decision, the court of appeals majority apparently acted pursuant to its grant of authority set forth in App.R. 12(C). 2 See, also, Bridgeport Bank Co. v. Shadyside Coal Co. (1930), 121 Ohio St. 544, 170 N.E. 358; Chester Park Co. v. Schulte (1929), 120 Ohio St. 273, 166 N.E. 186.

While we agree with the proposition that in some instances an appellate court is duty-bound to exercise the limited prerogative of reversing a judgment as being against the manifest weight of the evidence in a proper case, it is also important that in doing so a court of appeals be guided by a presumption that the findings of the trier-of-fact were indeed correct. 3

The underlying rationale of giving deference to the findings of the trial court rests with the knowledge that the trial judge is best able to view the witnesses and observe their demeanor, gestures and voice inflections, and use these observations in weighing the credibility of the proffered testimony. The interplay between the presumption of correctness and the ability of an appellate court to reverse a trial court decision based on the manifest weight of the evidence was succinctly set forth in the holding of this court in C.E. Morris Co. v. Foley Construction Co. (1978), 54 Ohio St.2d 279, 376 N.E.2d 578 :

"Judgments supported by some competent, credible evidence going to all the essential elements of the case will not be reversed by a reviewing court as being against the manifest weight of the evidence."

See, also, Frankenmuth Mut. Ins. Co. v. Selz (1983), 6 Ohio St.3d 169, 172, 451 N.E.2d 1203; In re Sekulich (1981), 65 Ohio St.2d 13, 16, 417 N.E.2d 1014 .

We are of the opinion that the court of appeals failed to give the trial court's decision a presumption of correctness in the case at bar. We believe that an appellate court should not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court when there exists, as in this case, competent and credible evidence supporting the findings of fact and conclusions of law rendered by the trial judge. A careful review of the record reveals that the trial court's findings are corroborated by competent and credible evidence.

With respect to the issue of fraud, the trial court found wanting an intent by Seasons to defraud the city. Although it was admitted at trial that the signature affixed to the affidavit was not genuine, the testimony elicited from Cali and Schlabach concerning the events leading up to the submission of the affidavit negated a finding that the document was intended to defraud or mislead the city. 4

Similarly, the trial court's holding that the contract was not rendered void by the Cleveland City Charter was also supported by competent and credible evidence. The city contends that Schlabach's name was submitted in order to gain the contract, and that Seasons had all along intended to use allegedly substandard coal from the substitute supplier, Alexander Coal Co. However, competent and credible testimony given at trial indicates that Seasons intended to use Schlabach as its supplier, and in fact did so, until Schlabach terminated his supply of coal to Seasons for not being paid in a timely manner. Additional evidence was given tending to show that the city did in fact orally authorize the substitution of another supplier.

Another basis of claimed fraud concerned the quality of coal delivered by Seasons to the city under the contract. As to this contention, the trial court found that "[t]he City did not introduce any credible evidence that the coal shipped to the City by Seasons under the contract did not meet the contract specifications."

In reversing this finding, the court of appeals majority found that the coal delivered by Seasons was "outrageously deficient," by relying on tests undertaken by the city which measured various components of coal quality from selected samples of Seasons' deliveries. The results of these tests were given great importance by the appellate court, but the trial court, as well as the dissenting judge on the court of appeals, cast serious doubt on the reliability and credibility of this evidence. Obviously, the trial court believed that the city had not fulfilled its burden of proving that the coal was below the specifications of quality required under the terms of the contract.

Without expounding upon the various particulars submitted within this contention, we believe that the court of appeals failed to give the trial court's decision the proper deference it deserved. A careful review of the record indicates that the trial court's finding was supported by competent and credible evidence. A reviewing court should not reverse a decision simply because it holds a different opinion concerning the credibility of the witnesses and evidence submitted before the trial court. A finding of an error in law is a legitimate ground for reversal, but a difference of opinion on credibility of witnesses and evidence is not. The determination of credibility of testimony and evidence must not be encroached upon by a reviewing tribunal, especially to the extent where the appellate court relies on unchallenged, excluded evidence in order to justify its reversal.

The record before us also indicates that the city never rejected any of the coal shipments by invoking its rights under R.C. 1302.65. The failure of the city to seasonably reject any of the coal constituted acceptance of the goods after a reasonable time had elapsed. If the coal was substandard, as the city contends, or "outrageously deficient," as the appellate court majority characterizes it, R.C. 1302.65(C) required the city to notify Seasons of any breach within a reasonable time of discovery, or be barred from any remedy. 5 Therefore, we hold that the trial court's judgment was supported by some competent, credible evidence going to all the essential elements of the instant case, and we reverse the court of appeals finding that this judgment was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Turning our attention to the element of damages, we note that the trial court...

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