Demma v. Commissioner of Motor Vehicles
| Decision Date | 02 May 1973 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | Lorraine DEMMA v. COMMISSIONER OF MOTOR VEHICLES. |
Richard R. Brown, Asst. Atty. Gen., with whom, on the brief, was Robert K. Killian, Atty. Gen., for appellant-appellee (defendant).
Samuel Bailey, Jr., Hartford, for appellee-appellant (plaintiff).
Before HOUSE, C.J., and SHAPIRO, LOISELLE, MacDONALD and BOGDANSKI, JJ.
This is an appeal from the decision of the defendant commissioner of motor vehicles in finding that the plaintiff violated § 14-51 of the General Statutes in repairing a motor vehicle such that 'the repairs . . . were not completed in a qualified and professional manner,' and in finding that the plaintiff violated § 14-64 in repairing a motor vehicle with used parts and not new as agreed and paid for. No suspension action was taken with respect to the violation of § 14-51, but a suspension of thirty days was ordered for the violation of § 14-64. From this decision the plaintiff appealed to the Court of Common Pleas, which sustained her appeal. From a judgment rendered thereon, the commissioner has appealed to this court.
The commissioner has assigned error in the action of the court in sustaining the appeal and in setting aside the suspension.
The trial court concluded that the evidence did not reasonably support the decision of the commissioner that the plaintiff had violated § 14-64 1 by repairing 'Miss Vauter's vehicle with used parts and not new as agreed to and paid for.'
In this court the commissioner contends (1) that the evidence before him does support the conclusion that the plaintiff made a false statement regarding the parts to be used in the repair of Miss Vauter's car, and (2) that the plaintiff failed to sustain the burden of proving that the commissioner acted contrary to law and in abuse of his discretion.
It is fundamental that a plaintiff has the burden of proving that the commissioner, on the facts before him, acted contrary to law and in abuse of his discretion. Dempsey v. Tynan, 143 Conn. 202, 206, 120 A.2d 700. The law is also well established that if the decision of the commissioner is reasonably supported by the evidence it must be sustained. Conley v. Board of Education, 143 Conn. 488, 492, 123 A.2d 747.
The record discloses evidence from which the commissioner could have found the following facts: Beverly Vauter's car was involved in an automobile accident on November 14, 1970, and was towed to the plaintiff's garage. She and the plaintiff agreed that the car would be repaired for $1150. Nothing was said regarding the use of used parts for the repairs. She paid for the repair job but stated that had she known used parts were to be used, she would not have given the job to the plaintiff.
Philip Demma, the plaintiff's service manager, handled the negotiations concerning the repair job for the plaintiff, and Anthony Sgro, an insurance adjuster, negotiated with him on behalf of Miss Vauter. On the appraisal sheet used by Demma and Sgro to arrive at the contract price of $1150, the letter 'N' was written before every part to be employed in the repairs. At the hearing Demma stipulated, through his attorney, that the letter 'N' before an item on the appraisal sheet denoted that the item was to be a new part. Sgro stated that he appraised Miss Vauter's car for a 'contract fugure' of $1150, that the appraisal sheet showed new part listed for the front end of the vehicle, and that when he wrote up the appraisal, he intended the part to be new. Demma testified that he agreed to repair the car for the stated contract figure but intended to and did substitute used parts. Sgro, on the other hand, said that the substitution of used parts for new was not 'the manner in which he paid to have vehicle repaired.'
Philip Demma testified that '(t)he cost to repair the car with all new parts would have been over $1,400.' The appraisal sheet signed by Demma,...
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