Jantronic Systems, Inc. v. Brock

• Decision Date: 02 September 1994
• Citation: 646 So.2d 1337
• Parties: JANTRONIC SYSTEMS, INC. v. Jerry BROCK. 1930816.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 1337

646 So.2d 1337

JANTRONIC SYSTEMS, INC. v. Jerry BROCK.

1930816.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Sept. 2, 1994.

Herman D. Padgett and Robert E. McDonald, Jr., Mobile, for appellant.

Nicholas Nagrich, Mobile, for appellee.

INGRAM, Justice.

Jantronic Systems, Inc. ("Jantronic"), sued Jerry Brock for money damages, alleging that Brock had conspired with William Curtis to defraud Jantronic. Brock had purchased computer equipment from Curtis that Curtis had ordered from Jantronic; Curtis failed to pay Jantronic for the computer equipment. Curtis subsequently pleaded guilty to several counts of wire fraud related to his obtaining the computer equipment. The trial court, after hearing the evidence, entered a judgment in favor of Brock. Jantronic appeals.

The dispositive issue on appeal is whether the judgment of the trial court was plainly and palpably wrong.

Because the trial court made no specific findings of fact, this Court will assume that the trial court made those findings necessary to support its judgment. Transamerica Commercial Fin. Corp. v. AmSouth Bank, N.A., 608 So.2d 375 (Ala.1992); Fitzner Pontiac-Buick-Cadillac, Inc. v. Perkins & Associates, Inc., 578 So.2d 1061 (Ala.1991). When a trial court's judgment is based upon ore tenus evidence and that judgment is supported by the evidence, the judgment is presumed correct. This Court will reverse only if it finds the judgment to be plainly and palpably wrong, after considering all of the evidence and making all inferences that can logically be drawn from the evidence. Fitzner, supra. This Court will affirm the trial court's judgment if, under any reasonable aspect of the testimony, there is credible evidence to support that judgment. Watson v. Lazy Six Corp., 608 So.2d 389 (Ala.1992); Martin v. First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Andalusia, 559 So.2d 1075 (Ala.1990); Clark v. Albertville Nursing Home, Inc., 545 So.2d 9 (Ala.1989).

Jantronic is a computer manufacturer and distributor based in Manchester, Michigan. It sells its computers wholesale, selling approximately one-fifth of them to the United States Government. In January 1993, William Curtis began ordering computers from Jantronic. In his telephone calls and fax messages to Jantronic, Curtis represented himself to be an employee of the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Mobile; the fax messages were on paper marked with a counterfeit Corps of Engineers letterhead. Curtis led Jantronic's employees to believe that the orders were for the Corps of Engineers; however, it is undisputed that Curtis had no affiliation with the Corps of Engineers. Jantronic, relying upon Curtis's false representations, did not attempt to verify that Curtis was actually employed by the Corps of Engineers. Jantronic shipped approximately $75,000 worth of computers to Curtis's home in Mobile. Curtis failed to pay approximately $74,000 of the debt that he owed to Jantronic from his computer orders.

Brock, an account manager with an industrial computer company, met Curtis in 1993; Curtis also represented to Brock that he was employed by the Corps of Engineers. When Brock expressed interest in purchasing computers...