Jamestown Farmers Elevator, Inc. v. General Mills, Inc.
Decision Date | 03 May 1976 |
Docket Number | Civ. No. A3-74-103. |
Citation | 413 F. Supp. 764 |
Parties | JAMESTOWN FARMERS ELEVATOR, INC., formerly Mutschler Grain Company, a North Dakota Corporation, Plaintiff, v. GENERAL MILLS, INC., a Delaware Corporation, Defendant. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of South Dakota |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
J. Gerald Nilles, Nilles, Hansen, Selbo, Magill & Davies, Ltd., Fargo, N. D., for plaintiff; Gordon J. Berg and John F. Hacking, Minneapolis, Minn., of counsel.
James D. Cahill, Garrity, Cahill, Gunhus, Streed, Grinnell & Jeffries, Moorhead, Minn., for defendant; Harold A. Halgrimson, Fargo, N. D., of counsel.
Plaintiff, Jamestown Farmers Elevator, Inc., moves the Court for an order vacating judgment and granting a new trial in the above entitled case. The action was tried to a jury January 6 through January 9, 1976. Verdict was returned in favor of Defendant, General Mills, Inc., and against the Plaintiff, and for dismissal of the Plaintiff's complaint. Judgment was entered January 14, 1976. The Plaintiff's motion, pursuant to Rule 59 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, was filed January 20, 1976, and alleges sixteen points of error on the part of the Court.
On or about February 1, 1973, in a telephone conversation between Patrick M. Kluempke, an agent of General Mills, and Donald Mutschler, as agent for the Plaintiff, an oral agreement was entered into whereby Mutschler agreed to sell and deliver to General Mills, and General Mills agreed to purchase and receive from Mutschler, 30,000 bushels of No. 2 barley, 45 lb. per bushel or better, at a price of $1.22 per bushel, f. o. b. Jamestown, North Dakota, delivery to be made by Mutschler during March and April of 1973 (hereinafter called the "delivery period"). Jamestown Farmers Elevator contended that General Mills, in addition, agreed to send twenty to twenty-five trucks and two rail cars to transport the barley. General Mills denied it agreed to send trucks. The oral agreement was followed by a written confirmation mailed by General Mills to Jamestown Farmers Elevator on or about February 1, 1973.
The written confirmation contained two terms which formed the principal dispute between the parties.
Jamestown Farmers Elevator received the written confirmation but did not sign or return it, and did not notify General Mills of any objection to its terms prior to shipping 3,724 bushels of barley by rail in March, 1973. No further shipments by rail or truck were made during the March-April, 1973, delivery period.
The Plaintiff alleged that General Mills breached the contract on April 30, 1973, in having failed to deliver twenty to twenty-five grain trucks as allegedly prescribed by the oral contract. The failure is alleged by Jamestown Farmers Elevator to relieve them from any further obligation to deliver barley to General Mills.1
After the "delivery period" expired, no further shipments of barley were made by Jamestown Farmers Elevator to General Mills until February 18, 1974. On several occasions in the fall of 1973, General Mills sent grain trucks to the Plaintiff's elevator. Jamestown Farmers Elevator refused to load them. The parties corresponded a number of times both by telephone and by letter during the time leading up to the February, 1974, deliveries.
Again in February of 1974, General Mills caused trucks to be placed at Jamestown Farmers Elevator. And after discussions with General Mills representatives, Jamestown Farmers delivered an additional 22,426 bushels of barley2 between February 18, 1974, April 8, 1974. General Mills applied these deliveries to the February 1, 1973, contract and paid Jamestown Elevator the contract price of $1.22/bushel. The market price during those subsequent deliveries was about $3.22/bushel.
The Plaintiff alleged that by reason of Defendant's breach in failure to deliver grain trucks, the contract terminated April 30, 1973, and Jamestown Farmers Elevator was entitled to market price for deliveries made subsequent to that date. The difference between the market price and the contract price paid was approximately $2.00 per bushel. Plaintiff asked for $44,816.00 in damages. Defendant deducted from its remittance to Plaintiff the sum of $3,041.50, which represented the difference between the contract price and the April 19, 1974 market price on the 3,850 bushels that Plaintiff failed to deliver. Plaintiff claimed this deduction as an additional item of damages.
A motion for a new trial is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial judge and wide latitude is accorded the trial judge in exercising that discretion. Sanden v. Mayo Clinic, 495 F.2d 221, 226 (8th Cir. 1974); Novak v. Gramm, 469 F.2d 430, 434 (8th Cir. 1972); Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. v. Aalco Wrecking Co., Inc., 466 F.2d 179, 185-186 (8th Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 410 U.S. 930, 93 S.Ct. 1371, 35 L.Ed.2d 592 (1973); Silverthorn v. Hennigan, 439 F.2d 704, 705 (8th Cir. 1971); Bates v. Hensley, 414 F.2d 1006, 1011 (8th Cir. 1969); Farmers Cooperative Elevator Association Non-Stock of Big Springs, Nebraska v. Strand, 382 F.2d 224, 230-231 (8th Cir. 1967), cert. denied 389 U.S. 1014, 88 S.Ct. 589, 19 L.Ed.2d 659 (1967); Simpson v. Skelly Oil Co., 371 F.2d 563, 566-567 (8th Cir. 1967); Bankers Life & Casualty Co. v. Kirtley, 307 F.2d 418, 423 (8th Cir. 1962).
It is within the power of the Court to set aside a jury verdict which is contrary to the clear weight of the evidence. White v. Mar-Bel, Inc., 509 F.2d 287 (5th Cir. 1975), rehearing denied 511 F.2d 1402 (5th Cir. 1975); Nanda v. Ford Motor Co., 509 F.2d 213 (7th Cir. 1974). The standard for the Eighth Circuit was set out in Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. v. Aalco Wrecking Co., Inc., 466 F.2d 179, 187 (8th Cir. 1972), cert. denied 410 U.S. 930, 93 S.Ct. 1371, 35 L.Ed.2d 592 (1973).
And in contrast to a motion for a directed verdict or a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, a trial judge, in considering a motion for a new trial, is not required to take that view of the evidence which is most favorable to the nonmoving party. Bates v. Hensley, 414 F.2d 1006, 1011 (8th Cir. 1969); Simpson v. Skelly Oil Co., 371 F.2d 563, 570 (8th Cir. 1967). Similarly, the weight of the evidence and possibly the credibility of witnesses may be considered. See, Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., Inc., supra, at 186; U. S. v. Bucon Construction Co., 430 F.2d 420, 423 (5th Cir. 1970), Simpson v. Skelly Oil Co., supra; Lind v. Schenley Industries, Inc., 278 F.2d 79 (3rd Cir. 1960), cert. denied 364 U.S. 835, 81 S.Ct. 58, 5 L.Ed.2d 60 (1960); 6A Moore's Federal Practice ¶ 59.085. Further, any other "pertinent matters" may be weighed and considered. Simpson v. Skelly, supra.
The discretion vested in the trial court is not without boundaries. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. v. Aalco Wrecking Co., Inc., supra, at 186. Particularly when considering an allegation of evidentiary error or error in instructions, it is generally held that a new trial should not be granted unless the moving party has met his burden of showing prejudicial error or it is reasonably clear prejudicial error has been committed or that substantial justice has not been achieved. Midcontinent Broadcast Co. v. North Central Air., Inc., 471 F.2d 357, 359 (8th Cir. 1973); Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. v. Aalco Wrecking Co., Inc., supra, at 186. In addition, a new trial should not be granted ". . . merely because the jury could have drawn different inferences or conclusions or because judges feel that other results are more reasonable." Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. v. Aalco Wrecking Co., Inc., supra; See also, Cockrum v. Whitney, 479 F.2d 84, 86 (9th Cir. 1973); Passwaters v. General Motors Corp., 454 F.2d 1270, 1276 n.5 (8th Cir. 1972).
A major portion of the Plaintiff's alleged points of error relate to the Court's instruction to the jury. The purpose of instructions is to apprise the jury of the questions and issues involved and the applicable rules of law. Ralston Purina Company v. Parsons Feed and Farm Supply, 364 F.2d 57, 61 (8th Cir. 1966); Weir v. Simmons, 357 F.2d 70, 72 (8th Cir. 1966); Terminal R. Ass'n. v. Howell, 165 F.2d 135, 139 (8th Cir. 1948). It is proper for the Court to state the respective claims of the parties and, if there is evidence to support the proposition, each party is entitled to instructions on its theory of the case. Gisriel v. Uniroyal, Inc., 517 F.2d 699, 703 (8th Cir. 1975); Weir v. Simmons, 357 F.2d 70, 72 (8th Cir. 1966); Bern v. Evans, 349 F.2d 282, 290 (8th Cir. 1965). The Eighth Circuit in Gisriel v. Uniroyal, Inc., supra, took note of the Tenth Circuit's standard, as set out in Smith v. Mill Creek Court, Inc., 457 F.2d 589 (10th Cir. 1972), that substantial evidence must be introduced to warrant the...
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