Huskinson v. Vanderheiden, 40631

• Decision Date: 02 March 1977
• Docket Number: No. 40631,40631
• Citation: 251 N.W.2d 144,197 Neb. 739
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court
• Parties: Sherman HUSKINSON, Appellee, v. Lambert H. VANDERHEIDEN and Flobert Industries, Incorporated, Appellants.

Page 144

251 N.W.2d 144

197 Neb. 739

Sherman HUSKINSON, Appellee, v. Lambert H. VANDERHEIDEN and Flobert Industries, Incorporated, Appellants.

No. 40631.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

March 2, 1977.

Syllabus by the Court

1. A motion for a directed verdict admits for the purpose of decision the truth of all material and relevant evidence on behalf of the party against whom the motion is directed.

2. Where the facts are conceded, undisputed, or are such that reasonable minds can draw but one conclusion therefrom, it is the duty of the court to decide the question, as a matter of law, rather than submit it to a jury for determination.

3. A private citizen who by affirmative direction, persuasion, or request procures an unlawful arrest and detention of another is liable for false imprisonment.

4. A verdict may be set aside as excessive only when it is so clearly exorbitant as to indicate that it was the result of passion, prejudice, or mistake, or that it is clear that the jury disregarded the evidence or controlling rules of law.

Richard D. Sievers, of Marti, Dalton, Bruckner, O'Gara & Keating, Lincoln, for appellants.

George H. Moyer, Jr., of Moyer, Moyer & Egley, Madison, for appellee.

Heard before SPENCER, BOSLAUGH and CLINTON, JJ., and HAMILTON and WINDRUM, District Judges.

HAMILTON, District Judge.

This action was commenced by appellee, Sherman Huskinson, for false arrest and imprisonment against the defendant, Lambert H. Vanderheiden, and his employer, Flobert Industries, Incorporated. The trial judge ruled that appellee's arrest was unlawful as a matter of law and so instructed the jury which returned a verdict against the appellants in the sum of $5,000.

The case arose from a contractual dispute. Flobert Industries, Incorporated, of Elgin, Nebraska, and A & K Railroad Materials, Inc., of Clearfield, Utah, entered into a contract on January 30, 1973. This contract required Flobert Industries to sell A & K a certain amount of relay rails salvaged from a discontinued railroad. The contract specified for a $20,000 downpayment, which was made, and "balance to be paid before material is removed from premises."

The procedure followed was that A & K employees or agents would load material from a stock pile site near Elgin, Nebraska, then take the load to Elgin Mills to be weighed. The cost of the load would be deducted from the $20,000 downpayment. This procedure was followed until appellee a truck driver for A & K, arrived for the 17th load. The record indicates that load 17 used up the $20,000 downpayment and left a balance owing of $725.04.

There is a dispute in the testimony concerning the circumstances surrounding load 17. The appellee denies having any conversation with Mr. Vanderheiden in the afternoon when he weighed his load, however Vanderheiden testified that he spoke with appellee after load 17 was weighed and told him not to leave until there were funds to pay for the load, and that appellee said he would stay in town. There is a certain amount of confusion and contradiction in the testimony of Vanderheiden regarding the instructions to appellee concerning the movement of load 17. All of said testimony is denied by appellee.

The evidence reflects that appellee stayed in town at the local motel and departed somewhere near 10 a. m. the following morning toward the direction of Schuyler, Nebraska. The appellee was stopped near Schuyler at about noon by the Nebraska Highway Patrol and taken to the sheriff's office in Schuyler, where, according to the evidence, he was relieved of his belongings and was under arrest from 12:31 p. m. to 3:42 p. m.

The appellee was stopped and arrested as a result of a radio broadcast advising that the appellee had left Elgin without paying for a load of rails. Vanderheiden acknowledges calling the Nebraska Highway Patrol stating that a load of iron had left town without payment and that he wanted the man apprehended, giving a license number and a description of the truck.

The trial judge's ruling on the motion for a directed verdict on the lawfulness of the arrest was based upon the fact that the evidence established that no felony had been committed. The trial judge concluded that the evidence supported the fact that title had passed to appellee's employer, and even accepting Vanderheiden's testimony as true, there was no crime of grand larceny committed.

The principal contention of appellants is that the trial judge erred in ruling as a matter of law that appellee's arrest was unlawful.

It is a well-established principal of law that where different minds may draw different conclusions or inferences, or where there is a conflict in the evidence, the matter at issue must be submitted to the jury. Sacher v. Petersen, 184 Neb. 305, 167 N.W.2d 384 (1969).

It is also true that a motion for a directed verdict admits for the purpose of decision the truth of all material and relevant evidence on behalf of the party against whom the motion is directed, and he is entitled to have every controverted fact found in his favor, and have the benefit of fair inferences deducible from the evidence. Jarosh v. Van Meter, 171 Neb. 61, 105 N.W.2d 531 (1960).

Where the facts are conceded, undisputed, or are such that reasonable minds can draw but one conclusion therefrom, it is the duty of the court to decide the question, as a matter of law, rather than submit it to a jury for determination. Thomas v. Owens, 169 Neb. 369, 99 N.W.2d 605; Wylie v. Czapla, 168 Neb. 646, 97 N.W.2d 255.

A false imprisonment consists in the unlawful restraint against his will of an individual's personal liberty and any intentional conduct that results in the placing of a person in a position where he cannot exercise his will in going where he may lawfully go. Schmidt v. Richman Gordman, Inc., 191 Neb. 345, 215 N.W.2d 105; Cimino v. Rosen, 193 Neb. 162, 225 N.W.2d 567. A private citizen who by affirmative direction, persuasion, or request procures an unlawful arrest and detention of another is liable for false imprisonment. Jensen v. Barnett, 178 Neb. 429, 134 N.W.2d 53.

In order to attach liability to appellants it was necessary to prove the unlawfulness of the arrest as provided for...