Gilreath v. Argo

• Decision Date: 03 September 1975
• Docket Number: No. 1,No. 50598,50598,1
• Citation: 219 S.E.2d 461,135 Ga.App. 849
• Parties: G. A. GILREATH et al. v. R. E. ARGO et al
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 461

219 S.E.2d 461

135 Ga.App. 849

G. A. GILREATH et al. v. R. E. ARGO et al.

No. 50598.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 1.

Sept. 3, 1975.

Rehearing Denied Sept. 29, 1975.

Grady C. Pittard, Jr., Athens, for appellants.

Fortson, Bentley & Griffin, Herbert T. Hutto, Chappelle Matthews, Hudson & Montgomery, Jim Hudson, Athens, for appellees.

MARSHALL, Judge.

This is a landlord-tenant case involving language in a lease by Oliver and his transferee, Argo, of commercial premises, including fixtures, to Gilreath and Johnson, lessees and defendants below, for use as a retail oyster and seafood business.

The lease provided in pertinent part: 'The lessees agree to make at their own expense, and without expense to the lessor, . . . all of the necessary and needful repairs to said premises . . . Lessor will not be responsible for any breakdown, failure to operate or wearing out of any fixture or piece of equipment. The equipment is operating satisfactorily for the purpose of carrying on the present business, but no claim or guarantee is made beyond this.'

Six months after the lease commenced, the compressor in the refrigeration equipment broke down causing damage to other equipment in the building and rendering the business inoperable. The defendants, lessees, vacated the premises and did not pay rent. Argo brought suit against the defendants for unpaid rent, plus interest, and for certain expenses to repair the equipment. The defendants answered denying liability and filed a third-party complaint against the original lessor, Oliver, for fraud and misrepresentation in inducing the defendants to enter the lease.

Argo relied on the language in the lease that he was not responsible for the breakdown of the equipment and that the defendant lessees therefore had no right to vacate the premises. The defendants relied on the language in the lease that the equipment was operating satisfactorily for the purpose of carrying on the 'present business' at the time of the lease, meaning that the equipment would run for the five-year period of the lease.

Following lengthy litigation, the jury returned a verdict for plaintiff Argo. Judgment was entered in favor of Argo and in favor of Oliver on the third-party complaint. Defendants, lessees, appeal therefrom, enumerating 17 errors.

1. In Enumerations of error 6 through 16 the defendants allege errors in the trial court's instructions and recharges to the jury and in certain failures to instruct. We have reviewed the court's instructions (covering some 45 pages of transcript) and the defendants' objections and the discussion thereof (covering another 90 pages) and find that the trial judge properly instructed on the law as it applied to the facts in this case. Though the jury may have been confused by the length and complexity of the instructions on the law, it could not have been misled to the prejudice of the defendants because the principles of law given by the court were applicable and correct.

2. The defendants contend that there was no theory of the evidence presented in the case which would support the verdict that the jury awarded, $5,343.18, and therefore same was a compromised verdict. Argo's amended complaint prayed for $7,352.50 for rent past due (plus interest) and repairs to equipment in the premises, and his evidence at trial showed at least that amount of damages.

'There is no inherent wrong in a verdict arrived at by jurors compromising among themselves. Indeed, lawyers must agree that a very large percentage of all verdicts are end products reached that way. The determining factor in setting a verdict aside or in upholding it is whether the evidence authorized it.' Mullite Co. v. Thornton, 124 Ga.App. 568, 569(2), 185 S.E.2d 548, 549. Furthermore, since the amount of the verdict was less than that demanded against the defendants, ". . . (W)e know of no principle upon which a defendant can complain that a verdict for a less amount than that demanded by the evidence was returned against him.' For like rulings, see Pullman Co. v. Schaffner, 126 Ga. 609(4), 55 S.E. 933, 9 L.R.A.,N.S., 407; Cooper v. Bowen, 140 Ga. 45(3), 78 S.E. 413; Theatrical Club v. Bernard, 140 Ga. 76, 78 S.E. 410; Johns v. League, Duvall & Powell, Inc., 202 Ga. 868(1), 45 S.E.2d 211.' Smallpiece v. Johnson, 210 Ga. 310, 315, 80 S.E.2d 296, 299. See also Williams v. Blanton, 211 Ga. 491(2), 86 S.E.2d 504.

3. The defendants' contention at trial was that Mr. Oliver, the original lessor, committed fraud by telling the defendants, lessees, inter alia, that if the equipment needed repairs, a Mr. Basham would fix it. Later when the equipment broke down Mr. Basham was called by the defendants, but he did not come out. The defendants...