Ex parte Helms

• Decision Date: 13 June 2003
• Citation: 873 So.2d 1139
• Parties: Ex parte Annie Jean HELMS, Mary Jon Brown, Sharon Wallace, Susan Mitchum, and Robert Grimes. (In re Pamela Morrow and Ruth H. Morrow v. Annie Jean Helms et al.)
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

873 So.2d 1139

Ex parte Annie Jean HELMS, Mary Jon Brown, Sharon Wallace, Susan Mitchum, and Robert Grimes.

(In re Pamela Morrow and Ruth H. Morrow v. Annie Jean Helms et al.)

1001475.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

June 13, 2003.

Robert A. Huffaker and Thomas A. Treadwell of Rushton, Stakely, Johnston & Garrett, P.A., Montgomery (reply brief filed by Robert A. Huffaker and Ben C. Wilson of Rushton, Stakely, Johnston & Garrett, P.A., Montgomery); and L. Merrill Shirley, Elba, for petitioners.

C. Clay Torbert III and Richard H. Allen of Capell & Howard, P.C., Montgomery, for respondents.

JOHNSTONE, Justice.

Introduction

The petitioners now before us, Annie Jean Helms, Mary Jon Brown, Sharon Wallace, Susan Grimes Mitchum, and Robert Grimes (hereinafter, sometimes collectively "the contestants") contested a will in the trial court, where the jury returned a verdict and the trial court entered a judgment in favor of the contestants and thereby invalidated the contested will. The respondents now before us, Ruth H. Morrow and Pamela Morrow (hereinafter, sometimes collectively "the proponents") had offered the will for probate and, after they lost the will contest to the contestants in the trial court, appealed the adverse judgment to this Court, which, pursuant to § 12-2-7(6), Ala.Code 1975, deflected the appeal to the Court of Civil Appeals, which reversed the judgment of the trial court, remanded the case, and instructed the trial court to enter a judgment in favor of the proponents, so that they could proceed to effectuate the will and to receive its benefits. Morrow v. Helms, 873 So.2d 1132 (Ala.Civ.App.2001).

The contestants have petitioned us for a writ of certiorari, which we have granted, to review the judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals. While we agree that the trial court committed one error, we do not agree that it committed two more as held by the Court of Civil Appeals. The one error committed by the trial court entitles the proponents to a reversal of the trial court judgment and to a new trial, but not to the judgment as a matter of law contemplated by the Court of Civil Appeals. Therefore, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand to the Court of Civil Appeals for further proceedings.

In the appeal decided by the Court of Civil Appeals, the proponents of the contested will, the appellants before the Court of Civil Appeals, contended that the trial court had committed three reversible errors in, first, denying the proponents' motion for judgment as a matter of law on their claim that the execution of the will met the formal requirements for validity; second, denying the proponents' motion for judgment as a matter of law on the contestants' claim that the decedent, Bernice H. Grimes, lacked testamentary capacity; and, third, denying the proponents' motion for judgment as a matter of law on the contestants' claim that the proponents had procured the will by exerting undue influence on Bernice. The Court of Civil Appeals held that the trial court committed all three errors. We are reviewing all three of these holdings by the Court of Civil Appeals and therefore necessarily are reviewing all three of the challenged rulings by the trial court.

Standard of Review

"On certiorari review, this Court accords no presumption of correctness to the legal conclusions of the intermediate appellate court. Therefore, we must apply de novo the standard of review that was applicable in the Court of Civil Appeals." Ex parte Toyota Motor Corp., 684 So.2d 132, 135 (Ala.1996). The appellate standard for reviewing a ruling on a motion for judgment as a matter of law, a "JML," is the same as the standard for the original decision by the trial court. Palm Harbor Homes, Inc. v. Crawford, 689 So.2d 3 (Ala. 1997).

The first prerequisite for JML in favor of a movant who asserts a claim or an affirmative defense is that the claim or affirmative defense be valid in legal theory, if its validity be challenged. See Driver v. National Sec. Fire & Cas. Co., 658 So.2d 390 (Ala.1995)

. The second prerequisite for JML in favor of such a movant, who necessarily bears the burden of proof, American Furniture Galleries v. McWane, Inc., 477 So.2d 369 (Ala.1985),

McKerley v. Etowah-DeKalb-Cherokee Mental Health Board, Inc., 686 So.2d 1194 (Ala.Civ.App. 1996), and Oliver v. Hayes International Corp., 456 So.2d 802 (Ala.Civ.App.1984), is that each contested element of the claim or affirmative defense be supported by substantial evidence. See Driver, supra, and McKerley, supra. The third prerequisite for JML in favor of such a movant is that the record be devoid of substantial evidence rebutting the movant's evidence on any essential element of the claim or affirmative defense. See Driver, supra, and First Fin. Ins. Co. v. Tillery, 626 So.2d 1252 (Ala.1993). Substantial rebutting evidence would create an issue of fact to be tried by the finder of fact and therefore would preclude JML. See Driver, supra, and First Financial, supra. JML in favor of the party who asserts the claim or affirmative defense is not appropriate unless all three of these prerequisites coexist. See Driver, supra, and First Financial, supra, McKerley, supra, and Oliver, supra.

JML in favor of a movant who does not assert the claim or affirmative defense but who only opposes it, and who therefore does not bear the burden of proof, is appropriate in either of two alternative cases. One is that the claim or affirmative defense is invalid in legal theory. See Harkins & Co. v. Lewis, 535 So.2d 104 (Ala.1988)

. The other is that one or more contested essential elements of the claim or affirmative defenses is unsupported by substantial evidence. See Banks v. Harbin, 500 So.2d 1027 (Ala.1986), and McKerley, supra. If either alternative be true, JML is appropriate. See Harkins, supra, Banks, supra, and McKerley, supra. If, however, the nonmovant's claim or affirmative defense is valid in legal theory and is supported by substantial evidence on every contested element, JML is inappropriate irrespective of the presence or weight of countervailing evidence. See Driver, supra, and First Financial, supra.

The statutory definition of substantial evidence is: "evidence of such quality and weight that reasonable and fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment might reach different conclusions as to the existence of the fact sought to be proven." § 12-21-12(d), Ala. Code 1975. West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989), explains, "substantial evidence is evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved." A trial court deciding a motion for JML and an appellate court reviewing such a ruling must accept the tendencies of the evidence most favorable to the nonmovant, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Manning, 788 So.2d 116 (Ala.2000), Southern Energy Homes, Inc. v. Washington, 774 So.2d 505 (Ala.2000), and Palm Harbor Homes, supra, and must resolve all reasonable factual doubts in favor of the nonmovant, Willis v. Parker, 814 So.2d 857 (Ala.2001).

The Formal Validity of the Execution of the Will

The proponents advanced two arguments before the Court of Civil Appeals in support of the proponents' claim that the trial court erred in denying the proponents' motion for JML on the issue of the formal validity of the execution of the will. The first argument was that the will was "self-proved" pursuant to § 43-8-132, Ala. Code 1975, even though the official seal of the "officer authorized to administer oaths" was not affixed as required by this statute. The Court of Civil Appeals agreed that the seal was unnecessary and that the will was self-proved. We must reject these holdings, because the statute means what it says. Judge Murdock, in his special writing in this case below, correctly explains the indispensable nature of the seal, Morrow, 873 So.2d at 1137 (Murdock, J., concurring in the result), and we adopt Judge Murdock's analysis.

The proponents' second argument is that they introduced uncontradicted evidence that the will was actually executed as required by § 43-8-131, Ala.Code 1975—that is, that the will was signed by the testator before two witnesses, who also signed. We agree. Judge Murdock's special writing correctly analyzes this issue too. Morrow, 873 So.2d at 1138 (Murdock, J., concurring in the result).

The contestants did not preserve any challenge to the legal sufficiency of the proponents' prima facie proof of the formalities of the execution of the will, and no evidence in the record rebuts the proponents' prima facie proof. Therefore, the trial court erred in denying the proponents' motion for JML on this issue and in submitting this issue to the jury.

The jury returned a general verdict, which reads:

"We, the Jury, find the issues in favor of the Contestants, Annie Jean Helms, Mary Jon Brown, Sharon Wallace, Susan Mitch[u]m. and Robert Grimes and that the purported will offered in evidence is not the valid last will and testament of Bernice H. Grimes, deceased."

The text of this verdict against the proponents of the will does not exclude the possibility that the jury based the verdict on a finding that Bernice did not sign the will or that she did not sign it before two witnesses who also signed, as required by § 43-8-131. Such a finding would be contrary to the proponents' uncontroverted prima facie proof. Thus, the error of the trial court in denying JML in favor of the proponents on this issue requires reversal. See Aspinwall v. Gowens, 405 So.2d 134 (Ala.1981)

. The judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals is correct to this extent, although for a wrong reason.

Substantive Facts Pertinent to the Issues of Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence

An analysis of the second and third issues is necessarily fact intensive. Because, in reviewing the decision of the Court of Civil Appeals on a trial...