Marstan Corp. v. Centreville Realty Co., 532-A
| Decision Date | 15 July 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 532-A,532-A |
| Citation | 256 A.2d 26,106 R.I. 36 |
| Parties | MARSTAN CORPORATION v. CENTREVILLE REALTY COMPANY. ppeal. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
This action of trespass on the case for property damage, although commenced prior to the adoption of new rules of civil procedure by the superior court, was tried in that court to a judge sitting without a jury subsequent to the effective date of those rules. Judgment was for the plaintiff, and the defendant appeals.
In 1961 defendant was the owner of a multi-occupancy converted mill building, and plaintiff, a manufacturer of lace and braid, was a tenant. Included in the tenanted premises was an area known as the 'picker-room,' a portion of which plaintiff used for the storage of finished goods. In the early morning hours of February 1 in that year, a sprinkler pipe in the picker-room froze and burst. What caused the freeze-up was that a person or persons unknown closed the valve which regulated and controlled the flow of heat into the picker-room.
On conflicting evidence the trial justice clearly and unequivocally found that the heating system was in the control of and was operated by defendant; that plaintiff had not attempted to interfere with or control it; that defendant's watchmen were required to check the valve controlling the flow of heat into the picker-room at two hour intervals in order 'to make certain that it was open on all occasions'; that they did not do so during the significant time preceding the freeze-up; that if they had checked, they would have opened the closed valve, the room would have been heated, the sprinkler pipe would not have frozen and burst, and plaintiff's stored merchandise would not have been damaged; that the difference between the fair market value of the damaged goods immediately prior to the bursting of the pipe and what they thereafter brought in salvage was in excess of $10,000. Upon these findings he concluded that the defendant was responsible for the freezing and bursting of the pipe and the resulting damage to plaintiff's goods. Notwithstanding that the actual damages sustained exceeded $10,000, the trial justice, apparently in the mistaken belief that the ad damnum in plaintiff's writ was only $10,000, caused judgment to be entered for $10,000 plus costs...
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Pescatore v. MacIntosh, 73-56-A
...addressed, has no place in an appellate proceeding. Fournier v. Ward, 111 R.I. 467, 306 A.2d 802 (1973); Marstan Corp. v. Centreville Realty Co., 106 R.I. 36, 256 A.2d 26 (1969). EXCESSIVE The defendants assert that the trial justice erred when, despite their objection, he allowed the jury ......
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Sladen v. Rowse
...R.I. 467, 472, 306 A.2d 802, 805 (1973); Boudreau v. Holzer, 109 R.I. 81, 85, 280 A.2d 88, 91 (1971); Marstan Corp. v. Centreville Realty Co., 106 R.I. 36, 38, 256 A.2d 26, 27 (1969). Rowse, Jr. also argues that even if the facts as found by the trial justice are accepted, it was nonetheles......
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Boudreau v. Holzer, 1258-A
...That argument, while appropriate if addressed to a trier of facts, has no place in appellate proceedings. Marstan Corp. v. Centreville Realty Co., 106 R.I. 36, 256 A.2d 26. Additionally, defendants, as part of the same general contention, charge the trial justice with having misconceived th......
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Gim v. Jan Chin, Inc.
...drawn a different conclusion from the conflicting evidence. This is not sufficient to sustain an appeal. Marstan Corp. v. Centreville Realty Co., 106 R.I. 36, 256 A.2d 26 (1969). The defendants' appeal is denied and dismissed, and the judgment appealed from is ...