Hall v. Tucker
| Decision Date | 26 May 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 04CA2.,04CA2. |
| Citation | 2005 Ohio 2674,161 Ohio App.3d 245,829 N.E.2d 1259 |
| Parties | HALL, Appellant and Cross-Appellee, v. TUCKER, Appellee and Cross-Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Supreme Court |
John M. Manos, Cleveland, Ohio, for appellant and cross-appellee.
Shannon S. Weber, Wellston, Ohio, for appellee and cross-appellant.
{¶ 1} Virgil Hall appeals the judgment of the Jackson County Court of Common Pleas granting Robert A. Tucker's motion to dismiss Hall's request for restitution and claim for conversion for lack of personal jurisdiction and granting Tucker's motion for summary judgment with regard to Hall's abuse-of-process claim. Because we find that Hall's complaint alleges sufficient facts to permit reasonable minds to conclude that the trial court has personal jurisdiction over Tucker, and because we find that Tucker has sufficient contacts with this state to satisfy the requirements of due process, we conclude that Hall made a prima facie showing that the trial court may properly exercise personal jurisdiction over Tucker. Because we find that Hall sufficiently demonstrated the existence of a genuine issue of material fact with regard to Tucker's intent to pervert the legal process to achieve an ulterior purpose for which it was not designed, we conclude that the trial court improperly granted Tucker's motion for summary judgment as to Hall's abuse-of-process claim.
{¶ 2} Tucker cross-appeals, asserting that the doctrine of res judicata serves to bar Hall's cause of action, which Tucker alleges is an impermissible collateral attack on the prior arbitration award of the United States District Court of New Jersey. We find that the doctrine of res judicata does not bar Hall's request for restitution or his claims for conversion and abuse of process because they (1) arose out of Tucker's conduct during or after the prior litigation, (2) were not actually litigated in the prior action, and (3) could not have been litigated in that action.
{¶ 3} Additionally, Tucker asserts that the trial court should have dismissed Hall's claims because it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over his causes of action. Because Tucker filed the New Jersey judgment in the Jackson County Court of Common Pleas pursuant to the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act ("UEFJA"), we conclude that the trial court has subject-matter jurisdiction to enforce the New Jersey judgment. Furthermore, to the extent that Hall's claims involve matters beyond the enforcement of the New Jersey judgment, we hold that the trial court has subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant to R.C. 2305.01 because the sum or matter in dispute exceeds $15,000.
{¶ 4} Accordingly, we sustain each of Hall's assignments of error, overrule each of Tucker's assignments of error, reverse the trial court's judgment, and remand this cause for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
{¶ 5} Hall is a resident of Jackson County, Ohio, and formerly owned and operated a standardbred horse farm in Jackson, Ohio. Tucker is a resident of the state of New Jersey and operates a horse farm in that state. In February 1998, Tucker purchased a standardbred brood mare, Tambourine, from Hall. At the time of the purchase, Tambourine was in foal. Tucker paid $57,500, with a balance of $7,500 to be paid after Tambourine gave birth to her foal. After Tucker took possession of Tambourine, the horse began to experience medical problems and her foal was eventually born undersized. Thereafter, Tucker filed suit against Hall in the United States District Court of New Jersey to rescind the sale.
{¶ 6} The New Jersey court referred the dispute to arbitration. There, the arbitrator found that Hall was aware of Tambourine's condition and failed to disclose it to Tucker before the sale. The arbitrator also found that Tambourine's medical problems were ongoing and severely compromised her usefulness as a brood mare. Thus, the horse was not fit for the purpose for which it was sold. The arbitrator concluded that rescission of the sale was an appropriate remedy, coupled with monetary damages reflecting the costs Tucker incurred in caring for Tambourine.
{¶ 7} Accordingly, the arbitrator issued an arbitration award which provided as follows:
1. [Tucker] is entitled to equitable remedy of recission [sic]. [Tucker] is to return the horse known as "Tambourine" to [Hall]. [Hall] is to return payments totaling $57,500.00 on account of purchase price to [Tucker].
2. [Tucker] is entitled to further damages as follows:
A. $36,271.33 — Expenses incurred in connection with care of Tambourine.
B. $8,834.20 — Expenses incurred in connection with care of the foal.
3. This amount should be reduced by the price obtained for the foal at the Harrisburg auction. If the price exceeds $45,105.53, the excess amount is to be returned to [Hall] less costs incurred by [Tucker] in connection with the sale.
{¶ 8} Neither party appealed the arbitration award, and on December 29, 1999, the New Jersey court reduced it to judgment. Tucker filed the judgment in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in February 2000 and successfully garnished $8,649 from Hall's bank accounts. On March 13, 2000, Tucker filed the judgment in the Jackson County Court of Common Pleas, thereby placing a lien upon all of the land and tenements Hall owned in Jackson County. Tucker filed a complaint to marshal liens against all of Hall's property in Jackson County and thereafter commenced foreclosure proceedings against Hall's Jackson County farm.
{¶ 9} In November 2000, Hall paid Tucker $91,135.02 in full satisfaction of the New Jersey judgment. Tucker released the lien upon Hall's property but failed to return Tambourine to Hall.
{¶ 10} In October 2001, Hall filed a complaint against Tucker in the Jackson County Court of Common Pleas (1) requesting the equitable relief of restitution of all funds Hall paid to Tucker under the New Jersey judgment, (2) stating a cause of action for conversion, and (3) stating a cause of action for abuse of process. Tucker moved to dismiss the complaint, alleging that the trial court lacked both personal and subject-matter jurisdiction. In ruling upon Tucker's motion, the trial court found that Hall had set forth sufficient allegations at that time to establish jurisdiction. However, the trial court concluded that because the basis of its jurisdiction was Tucker's alleged tortious conduct relative to the abuse-of-process claim, it had jurisdiction to consider only those causes of action arising out of that tortious conduct. The trial court concluded that Hall's request for restitution and claim for conversion "involve matters beyond the alleged tortious conduct and involve matters this Court does not have jurisdiction over." Accordingly, the trial court dismissed counts one and two of Hall's complaint.
{¶ 11} Thereafter, Tucker moved the court for summary judgment on the cause of action for abuse of process, claiming that (1) Hall had no evidence that Tucker harbored an ulterior purpose, (2) Hall had no evidence that he suffered direct damages as a result of the alleged abuse of process, and (3) Hall failed to plead that Tucker acted with probable cause in the prior proceedings before the Jackson County Court of Common Pleas.
{¶ 12} On February 18, 2004, the trial court granted Tucker's motion for summary judgment. In its entry, the trial court found that Tucker had the right to file the New Jersey certificate of judgment in Ohio placing a lien upon Hall's real estate and to file an action for marshaling of liens to collect the judgment. The trial court noted that if Hall had a claim for abuse of process, it rested upon Tucker's continued efforts to keep the horse and his failure to return the horse. However, the trial court concluded that it had no jurisdiction to enforce the New Jersey judgment unless the horse was present in Ohio. Ultimately, the trial court concluded that Hall could not show that Tucker perverted his efforts to enforce the New Jersey judgment in an attempt to accomplish an ulterior purpose for which the process was not designed. Accordingly, the trial court concluded that there was no genuine issue as to any material fact and that Tucker was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
{¶ 13} Hall appeals raising the following assignments of error:
{¶ 14} Tucker also appeals, raising the following cross-assignments of error:
{¶ 15} In his first assignment of error, Hall argues that the trial court improperly concluded that it lacked personal jurisdiction over Tucker with regard to Hall's request for the equitable relief of restitution and his claim for conversion.
{¶ 16} If Hall's complaint fails to establish a prima facie case for the trial court to exercise of personal jurisdiction over Tucker, the trial court can properly dismiss the complaint without a hearing pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(2). KB Circuits, Inc. v. BECS Technology, Inc. (Jan. 18, 2001), Franklin App. No. 00AP-621, 2001 WL 40584, at * 2. However, when a trial court determines its jurisdiction without conducting an evidentiary hearing, it...
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