Johnny Spradlin Auto Parts, Inc. v. Cochran

• Decision Date: 31 August 1990
• Citation: 568 So.2d 738
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court
• Parties: JOHNNY SPRADLIN AUTO PARTS, INC. v. Bobby COCHRAN, individually and d/b/a Cochran Auto Parts. 89-174.

Page 738

568 So.2d 738

JOHNNY SPRADLIN AUTO PARTS, INC. v. Bobby COCHRAN, individually and d/b/a Cochran Auto Parts.

89-174.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Aug. 31, 1990.

George W. Witcher, Jr. and Fred Blanton, Jr., Gardendale, for appellant.

Michael J. Crow of Beasley, Wilson, Allen, Mendelsohn & Jemison, Montgomery, for appellee.

ALMON, Justice.

This appeal arises from an action based on allegations of fraud, negligence, and wantonness that was filed by Bobby Cochran against Johnny Spradlin Auto Parts, Inc. ("Spradlin"). The jury returned a verdict awarding Cochran $15,200, and the trial court entered a judgment on that verdict. Spradlin argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict, that the amount of damages was improper, and that the court erred in instructing the jury.

In October 1985, Spradlin purchased a 1983 Chevrolet Camaro automobile, Vehicle Identification Number ("V.I.N.") 1G1AP871XDN142905 ("142905"), from Auto Salvage Pool, Inc. The vehicle had been declared a total loss because it had been stripped of all removable parts. For that reason, Spradlin received a salvage certificate of title ¹ from Allstate Insurance Company. Subsequently, Spradlin purchased, and received a regular title to, another Camaro, a 1986 model, V.I.N. 1G1FP87FOGL139254 ("139254"), which had been moderately damaged in a wreck.

Alan Spradlin ("Alan"), an employee of Spradlin, used the two Camaros to rebuild a single Camaro for Jim Lowery. The 1986 Camaro had been struck on the right front quarter and therefore had damage to the unitized body in that area. Alan testified that he removed the unitized body from the 1986 and replaced it with that from the 1983 rather than cutting out the damaged front quarter and welding in replacement parts; he testified that this procedure resulted in a more structurally sound vehicle. He described the process as follows: he removed the seats, dashboard, and interior trim from the 1986; removed the hood, the rear hatch lid, and other body parts; and cut off the roof where it was spot-welded to the body. After removing these parts, he lifted the unitized body off the drive train and placed the unitized body from the 1983 onto the drive train of the 1986. He then replaced the 1986 parts that he had removed, repaired the right front fender, the hood, and the bumper, and had the car painted.

Because the 1983 vehicle had been declared a total loss, the Department of Revenue had removed the public V.I.N. plate from the cowling under the windshield. When Alan placed that portion of the 1983 onto the drive train of the 1986, he removed the public V.I.N. plate from the discarded body of the 1986 and riveted it to the place on the 1983 body from which the plate had been removed. Spradlin sold the rebuilt Camaro as a 1986 model for $11,000 to Jim Lowery, transferring the certificate of title that it had obtained with the 1986 car. Lowery obtained from State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company an insurance policy describing the car as a 1986 model. About a year later, Lowery died in a fire at his home that also damaged the Camaro. Based upon that damage, State Farm paid benefits to Lowery's estate in the amount of $12,496.80 and title to the Camaro was transferred to State Farm.

In 1988 Cochran, doing business as Cochran Auto Sales, purchased the Camaro for $2,100 from State Farm at an auction and, because the car had been badly damaged in the fire at Lowery's house, received a salvage title, which indicated that the car was a 1986 model. Cochran repaired and refurbished the vehicle and made an application with the Alabama Department of Revenue for a new title. Sid Blair, who inspected the car for the Department, noticed that the public V.I.N. plate was not attached with the standard manufacturer's rivets. He performed a more thorough inspection and discovered that the engine, transmission, and public V.I.N. plates had the 1986 number 139254, but that the confidential number on the body was the 1983 number 142905. He therefore refused to issue a new title to Cochran.

Cochran communicated the problem to Alan Spradlin, who filed an administrative appeal of the decision not to issue a certificate of title to the car. On March 15, 1989, after Cochran had filed this action against Spradlin, the Department of Revenue issued a title based on Alan's testimony in the administrative hearing. Instead of allowing the 1986 V.I.N. plate to remain in place, however, the Department removed it and issued a state assigned number, which was placed on the door jamb of the car. The certificate of title gave that assigned number, AL86AN00300004207, as the vehicle identification number, and stated, "this title secured under a three year surety bond" (see Ala.Code 1975, § 32-8-36).

Cochran's action against Spradlin and State Farm alleged breach of contract, three counts of fraud (counts two, three, and four), and breach of warranty of title. Pursuant to a pro tanto agreement between State Farm and Cochran, State Farm was dismissed. Cochran amended his complaint to add a sixth count, alleging that Spradlin had negligently or wantonly removed the 139254 V.I.N. plate from the body of the 1986 Camaro and placed it on the 1983 body, and that, as a result, he was damaged because the car was of a lesser value than it appeared to have when he purchased it, because he had spent a great amount of money repairing a vehicle that was worth less than it would have been if it had had a valid title, and because he had spent time and effort in obtaining a valid title.

Spradlin filed a motion to strike the breach of contract and breach of warranty counts, which was granted, and the case proceeded to trial on the fraud counts and the negligence and wantonness count. At the conclusion of the case, Spradlin made an oral motion for a directed verdict as to count three, which alleged fraudulent suppression of material facts concerning the Camaro. In support of the motion, Spradlin's attorney argued that there was insufficient proof that Spradlin had suppressed material facts that it was under a duty to disclose to Cochran. The trial court denied the motion and submitted all three fraud counts and the count for negligence or wantonness to the jury. The jury returned a general verdict in favor of Cochran and assessed $5,200 compensatory damages and $10,000 punitive damages. The trial court entered judgment on that verdict.

Spradlin raises the following issues: (1) whether the trial court erred in entering judgment on the verdict because "there was insufficient evidence to support the verdict on each count"; (2) whether the trial court erred in denying Spradlin's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for a new trial "based upon the lack of sufficient evidence to support the verdict on count three of the complaint which was challenged by the motion for a directed verdict"; (3) whether the amount of compensatory damages was supported by the evidence; (4) whether the award of punitive damages "was a legal award based upon the applicable law of Alabama"; and (5) whether the trial court erred in giving several of Cochran's requested jury instructions over Spradlin's objections.

An appellant who seeks reversal of an adverse judgment on the ground that there is insufficient evidence must meet a two-pronged test: he must have asked for a directed verdict at the close of all the evidence, specifying "insufficiency of the evidence" as a ground, and he must have renewed this motion by way of a timely filed motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict that again specified the same insufficiency-of-the-evidence ground. Rule 50, Ala.R.Civ.P.; King Mines Resort, Inc. v. Malachi Mining & Minerals, Inc., 518 So.2d 714 (Ala.1987); Bains v. Jameson, 507 So.2d 504 (Ala.1987). "[I]f a complaint has more than one count and the defendant believes that the evidence is not sufficient to support one or more of those counts, he must challenge this by motion for directed verdict, specifying the count which is not supported by evidence and detailing with specificity the ground upon which the particular count is not supported by the evidence." Aspinwall v. Gowens, 405 So.2d 134 (Ala.1981).

Spradlin first argues that it was entitled to a j.n.o.v., even though it made no motion for a directed verdict on counts two, four, and six, because, it says, there was insufficient evidence to support any of the four counts that were submitted to the jury. This attempt to distinguish this case from Aspinwall overlooks the more general rule that, in order to raise insufficiency of the evidence on appeal, the appellant must have raised that ground in both a motion for directed verdict and a motion for j.n.o.v. Spradlin did not even make a general motion for directed verdict on all counts or make a general statement that the evidence was insufficient to submit the case to the jury, much less argue to the trial court how counts two, four, and six were supposedly not supported by the evidence. Thus, Spradlin has not preserved the question of the sufficiency of the evidence in support of those counts, and his first argument does not present any basis for reversal of the judgment. ²

Count three alleged that Spradlin suppressed the material fact that the Camaro "was not a 1986 Chevrolet Carmaro V.I.N. [139254]." Alabama Code 1975, § 6-5-102, provides: "Suppression of a material fact which the party is under an obligation to communicate constitutes fraud. The obligation to communicate may arise from the confidential relations of the parties or from the particular circumstances of the case." See Crowder v. Memory Hill Gardens, Inc., 516 So.2d 602 (Ala.1987); Hopkins v. Lawyers Title Ins. Corp., 514 So.2d 786 (Ala.1986).

Spradlin argues that there was no evidence that it suppressed any material fact that it had a duty to disclose. Cochran responds that the fact of the substitution of the 1986 V.I.N. plate into the place of the ...