Carpenter v. Chrysler Corp.

• Decision Date: 27 April 1993
• Docket Number: 60380,Nos. 60379,s. 60379
• Citation: 853 S.W.2d 346
• Parties: Brian C. CARPENTER and Kendra Carpenter, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CHRYSLER CORPORATION, et al., Defendants-Respondents.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 346

853 S.W.2d 346

Brian C. CARPENTER and Kendra Carpenter, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CHRYSLER CORPORATION, et al., Defendants-Respondents.

Nos. 60379, 60380.

Missouri Court of Appeals,

Eastern District,

Division Three.

April 27, 1993.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer to

Supreme Court Denied May 25, 1993.

David S. Purcell, Susan A. Jotte, St. Louis, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Andrew George Neill, Charles A. Newman, Gordon L. Ankney, James W. Erwin, Victor Scott Williams, St. Louis, for defendants-respondents.

STEPHAN, Judge.

Brian and Kendra Carpenter appeal from the judgment of the trial court ordering a new trial in favor of Chrysler Corporation ("Chrysler") and Scott Auto Sales and Finance Company d/b/a Chrysler-Plymouth West ("CPW"). This case arises out of the Carpenters' dissatisfaction with a new 1986 Chrysler LeBaron automobile they purchased at CPW in August 1986. The Carpenters subsequently learned that, prior to their purchase, their car had been driven some distance with a disconnected odometer. The Carpenters then sued Chrysler and CPW.

In their third amended petition, filed January 11, 1991, the Carpenters sought recovery against Chrysler and CPW in five counts. The various counts alleged the following: 1) statutory odometer fraud with damages sought pursuant to Section 407.546, RSMo Cum.Supp.1992 (in effect since 1989), Missouri's odometer altering statute, and pursuant to 15 U.S.C. Section 1981; 2) breach of express warranty under Missouri's New Motor Vehicle Warranties, Nonconformity Act, Sections 407.560-407.579 RSMo 1986 (Missouri's "Lemon Law") seeking rescission of the contract; 3) breach of contract seeking recovery of the full purchase price as damages; 4) entitlement to a declaratory judgment for removal of a lien on the car; and 5) fraudulent misrepresentation.

The trial court directed a verdict in favor of CPW on count one at the close of the Carpenters' opening statement with plaintiffs' consent. The Carpenters withdrew their allegation of odometer fraud in count five against CPW only, not Chrysler. The Carpenters then submitted their action to the jury against Chrysler on their first count for statutory odometer fraud and count five for fraudulent misrepresentation. The jury awarded the Carpenters $3,400 on count one and $3,400 actual and $1.19 million punitive damages on count five against Chrysler.

In the Carpenter's submission to the jury against the car dealer CPW the jury awarded the Carpenters $7,200 for breach of warranty and $3,400 actual and $17,000 punitive damages for fraudulent misrepresentation on count five. ¹ The jury also found in favor of the Carpenters on CPW's counterclaim against the Carpenters for nonpayment under the installment sales contract. The Carpenters appeal from the judgment entered by the trial court granting the motions for new trial filed by Chrysler and CPW. We reverse and remand the grant of a new trial in favor of CPW; affirm the grant of a new trial in favor of Chrysler and affirm the denial of judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

The Carpenters have raised over twenty-three points and twenty-eight subpoints. These points, in summary, raise issues concerning: 1) jurisdiction of the trial court to grant Chrysler's motion for new trial; 2) the propriety of a new trial on weight of the evidence grounds; 3) jury bias; 4) admission of certain evidence; 5) certain instructions; 6) punitive damages; 7) election of claims and remedies; 8) closing argument; and 9) measure of damages. Respondents themselves have raised an additional issue. They each challenge the submissibility of the Carpenters' case.

At the outset we dispose of the Carpenters' jurisdictional attack on the timeliness of Chrysler's motion for new trial, which in turn affects the timeliness of appeal and, hence, our jurisdiction. Appellants contend that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to rule on Chrysler's motion for new trial. The jury returned its verdict on February 8, 1991. CPW filed its motion for new trial on February 22, 1991. Chrysler filed its new trial motion on February 25, 1991, which, because of an intervening weekend, was still within the fifteen days required under Rule 78.04. Thus, both motions were timely filed under Rule 78.04.

The trial court ruled on CPW's new trial motion on May 23, 1991; on Chrysler's, on May 28, 1991. Appellants claim that, once CPW filed its motion for a new trial on February 22, the trial court had ninety days up to and including May 23 under Rule 81.05 to rule on all post-trial motions. Appellants conclude that the trial court was without authority on May 28 when it ruled on Chrysler's new trial motion because the ninety day period had expired on May 23 when the trial court ruled on CPW's new trial motion.

Appellants cite Rule 81.05 which provides that "in the event a motion for a new trial is timely filed, the judgment becomes final at the expiration of ninety days after the filing of such motion or, if such motion is passed on at an earlier date, then at the date of disposition of said motion." Appellants emphasize Rule 81.05's language that "[a]ny authorized after-trial motion not passed on at the time the motion for new trial is determined shall be deemed overruled as of the same date." Based upon Rule 81.05, appellants conclude that the trial court's ruling on CPW's motion for new trial effectuated an automatic denial on Chrysler's pending new trial motion.

Appellants' argument is novel. Our research has disclosed no case dispositive of this issue. To accept appellants' strict reading of Rule 81.05 would compel the trial court to simultaneously dispose of all new trial motions in multi-party litigation, even when several new trial motions are filed by different parties at different times, albeit timely. Appellants' view of Rule 81.05 would result in shortening the ninety day period within which the trial court retains control of its judgment under Rule 78.06 for its consideration of subsequently-filed yet timely new trial motions.

We do not believe our Missouri Supreme Court promulgated its rules to create any such impediment to the decision-making process of the trial court. Under Kattering v. Franz, 231 S.W.2d 148 (Mo.1950), cited by both parties, "[o]ne of the purposes of the 1943 Code of Civil Procedure was to speed up litigation ... [and] ... was particularly intended to eliminate delay in the period after judgment in the trial court. That was the reason for ... fixing limited periods for filing and acting on motions for new trial." Id. at 149. That purpose is not thwarted by permitting the trial court a full ninety days following a timely new trial motion to consider its ruling on the motion. The Rules specifically allow the fifteen days to file a new trial motion and ninety days for the trial court to rule on it, for a maximum of 105 days. Rules 78.04; 78.06; 81.05(a). Reading the Rules in pari materia suggests that Rule 81.05's provision that "[a]ny authorized after-trial motion not passed on at the time the motion for a new trial is determined shall be deemed overruled as of the same date" should be construed to mean any authorized after-trial motion filed by the same party. Such a reading affords the trial court the full period prescribed by the Rules in reviewing the merits of all timely-filed new trial motions of all parties involved in more complex litigation. The maximum of 105 days is not exceeded by our construction. We hold that where two or more timely motions for new trial are filed by different parties in a case, a ruling on the earlier-filed motion does not operate as an automatic denial of the remaining new trial motions filed by a different party. Thus, the trial court had jurisdiction to decide Chrysler's timely new trial motion. Having decided the trial court properly retained jurisdiction, the Carpenters' notices of appeal to each order, filed June 3 and 7, 1991, respectively, are also timely and we have jurisdiction of the appeal of the trial court's judgment. We now consider the circumstances giving rise to this litigation.

The facts, despite protracted litigation spanning nearly four years and resulting in a voluminous record of more than 1500 pages in the legal file and over 900 pages of transcript, are fairly straightforward. CPW, an automobile dealer in west St. Louis County, Missouri, had received the car at issue here, a 1986 Chrysler LeBaron, from Chrysler's Detroit, Michigan plant in February 1986. In March 1986 CPW discovered a leak in the power steering system of the LeBaron while it was sitting on CPW's sales lot. CPW replaced a seal in the power steering unit and refilled the car's power steering fluid. In April 1986 Chrysler sent CPW a recall notice and repairs kit to correct a wiring harness defect causing intermittent failure to start. However, CPW did not make the repair.

On August 25, 1986, Brian Carpenter ("Carpenter") went to CPW to buy two cars, one for himself and another automobile primarily for the use of his older daughter Kendra, then sixteen, as well as his fifteen year old daughter Kerry. He told the salesman he wanted a reliable car for his daughters. The salesman directed Carpenter's attention to the Chrysler LeBaron stating it was a reliable car. Carpenter did not test-drive the car because it would not start. The salesman attributed the difficulty to a dead battery. Nevertheless, Carpenter signed a sales contract that day to buy the LeBaron. The salesman told him the car would be taken care of and would be ready in two days. Carpenter left.

The next day, on August 26, 1986, CPW noted a "powerless steering" problem on the LeBaron and made repairs adjusting a valve and some belts and putting power steering fluid in the car. A mechanic at CPW inspected the car and prepared a vehicle inspection certificate on August 26 indicating that the odometer recorded sixteen miles and that the car was in good mechanical order. CPW also replaced the steering...