McCall v. Sexton, 06ca12 (6-28-2007)
McCall v. Sexton, 06ca12 (6-28-2007)
Dissenting Opinion
{¶ 20} I respectfully dissent. I would affirm the decision of the trial court in regards to the vehicles but would reverse its decision in regards to the clothes dryer.
{¶ 21} The evidence presented at trial showed that the dryer was purchased during the relationship in December, 2005, with money solely borrowed from Sexton's employer and later withdrawn solely from his paycheck. Apparently, McCall believes that because they paid bills out of their joint income, she has some equitable interest in the dryer. However, there was no evidence in the record to show that McCall contributed any money for the purchase of the dryer. As such, she did not prove that she had any ownership interest in the dryer. Therefore, I do not believe that, based on this evidence, substantial justice was done between the parties in regards to the dryer. Consequently, I would overrule Sexton's assignment of error in part and sustain it in part.
{¶ 22} Thus, I dissent.
The Court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this Court directing the Jackson County Municipal Court to carry this judgment into execution.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute that mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Exceptions.
McFarland, P.J.: Concurs in Judgment Opinion
*Page 1Kline, J.: Dissents with Dissenting Opinion
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} Appellant assigns the following error for review:
"THE TRIAL COURT FAILED TO MAKE EQUAL DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT OF THIS ACTION WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE RESULT OF THE PARTITION."
{¶ 3} The parties previously lived together in Jackson, Ohio, *Page 2 and jointly acquired various items of personal property. Appellee left the premises and commenced the instant action in which she alleged that appellant wrongfully retained her personal property. Appellant requested replevy of that property, or $2,300 in compensatory damages.1
{¶ 4} At trial both sides gave testimony concerning their individual property and jointly acquired property. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court noted that a replevin action did not lend itself to distribution of jointly owned property. Thus, the court instructed each side to file briefs to address that issue.
{¶ 5} On June 1, 2006, the trial court ordered appellant to return to appellee various items of personal property. The court further noted that the parties jointly owned a dryer and two automobiles (a 1991 Ford Probe and a 1994 Ford pickup truck) that were to be disposed of in the following manner:
"[T]he Defendant may keep the dryer by paying to the Plaintiff $150 on June 24th. If Defendant decides not to pay the Plaintiff for her half, the dryer shall be *Page 3 sold and the first $150 given to the plaintiff and the remainder to the Defendant if the selling price is $300 or less. If the selling price is more than $300, the each shall be given one-half of the selling price."
"The 1991 Ford Probe and 1994 Ford Pickup are jointly owned by titles. The parties are jointly liable on the Loan Central and American General notes. The parties shall either sale [sic] both vehicles and pay the liens or (1) Plaintiff transfer her interest in the 1994 Ford Pickup to the Defendant and the Defendant assume full responsibility for the Loan Central lien, saving the Plaintiff harmless and (2) the Defendant transfer his interest in the 1991 Ford Probe to the Plaintiff and the Plaintiff assumes the full responsibility of the American General lien saving the Defendant harmless. The parties shall advise the Court no later than June 9th Noon as to which they will do."
{¶ 6} It does not appear from the record that either side notified the court as to how it wished to proceed with these items. Instead, appellant filed the instant appeal.
{¶ 8} The problem that initially arises in this case is that the record does not reflect how parties have proceeded with the dryer and motor vehicles. In other words, some action must be taken before this case is finally concluded in the trial court. This, in turn, raises the final, appealable, order question.
{¶ 9} The standard for assessing whether a judgment "determines" the action is whether the judgment disposes of all issues and leaves nothing for further adjudication. See Woodgeard v. Sims Hocking App. No. 05CA18,
{¶ 11} Appellee testified that the dryer cost $300. The trial court allowed appellant to keep the dryer, if he reimbursed appellee for her share of the purchase price. Alternatively, the court ordered that the dryer be sold and the sales proceeds divided evenly. This appears to be an "equal" division.
{¶ 12} As for the motor vehicles, the trial court gave the parties the option to sell (and use the proceeds to pay the liens) or to divide them.3 This, too, appears to be an equal division. Although no evidence reveals the precise value of these vehicles, we note (1) appellant did not raise this issue at trial and adduced no evidence concerning the value and (2) in any event, appellant received the truck which is, presumably, more valuable than the car. Thus, even if the value of the vehicles partitioned are not precisely equal, it appears that appellant received an equitable share of the distribution.
{¶ 13} For these reasons, we find no merit to the assignment *Page 6 of error. In the remaining portion of his brief, however, appellant advances other arguments that do not relate to the actual assignment of error. We now turn to those arguments.
{¶ 14} Appellant asserts that replevin is "unavailable" to appellee and that, in any event, the trial court could not award a remedy of partition at the same time it awarded replevy of property.
{¶ 15} A replevin action provides the only means to obtain possession of personal property that one has a right to possess, but is in someone else's possession. See Bono v. McCutcheon,
{¶ 16} Additionally, although appellee's complaint did not request partition, that remedy could still have been afforded to her as an alternative form of relief. "When issues not raised by the pleadings are tried by express or implied consent of the parties, they shall be treated as if they had been raised in the pleadings." Civ.R. 15(B). Both parties testified concerning joint property, and appellant raised the issue of partition in his post-trial brief. Appellant can not now complain, at this date, that the partition remedy was treated as if it had been *Page 7 pled and awarded as an alternative remedy to appellee.
{¶ 17} Appellant's next argument is that the partition of personal property should have been treated the same way as a partition of real property. In other words, appellant asserts that evidence should have been adduced as to the property's value and the respective equities of the parties.4 Partition of real estate is governed by statute. See R.C. Chapter 5307.5 No statute governs the partition of personal property, although such right does exist at common law. SeeCrowthers v. Gullett,
{¶ 18} We would also point out that although the trial court *Page 8
did not assign a value to the personal property that it ordered partitioned, appellant also failed to raise this issue or to adduce his own evidence as to the chattel's value. Thus, appellant waived this issue for purposes of appeal. See Sutterfield v. Sutterfield (May 24, 1991), Adams App. No. 508. Even if the issue had been preserved for appeal, however, we are not persuaded that the failure to provide exact values for these items of property would have necessarily been fatal. The uncontroverted evidence is that the dryer cost $300 when first acquired. Furthermore, according to the judgment, the motor vehicles are over twelve years old. These items have negligible value to begin with, and we are not persuaded that the absence of definitive evidence as to their value renders the partition inequitable. This is particularly so in light of the means by which the property was disposed of by the trial court. Appellee testified that the dryer cost $300, was acquired when she and appellant lived together and that they jointly paid debts.6
The *Page 9
court's judgment simply ordered that appellant either reimburse appellee for her share of the dryer, or that the dryer be sold and the proceeds evenly divided. This division is equitable. As for the motor vehicles, the court ordered they either be sold to pay off liens, or that appellee transfer her interest in the 1994 truck to appellant and appellant transfer his interest in the 1991 Ford Probe to appellee. In light of appellee's testimony that the joint debts were paid by both parties, we cannot find that this disposition is inequitable. To the extent that appellant contradicted appellee's testimony concerning how debts were paid, the trial court was in a better position than we to view the parties and to observe their demeanor, gestures, and voice inflections and to factor those observations when weighing credibility. Myers v.Garson (1993),
{¶ 19} Reviewing courts should not reverse a judgment in partition when substantial justice has been done between the *Page 10 parties. See Purdy v. Purdy (Jun. 1, 1993), Butler App. No. CA-92-10. Given the record before us, substantial justice was achieved here. For these reasons, we hereby overrule appellant's assignment of error and affirm the trial court's judgment.
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.
We believe that the trial court judge, as the trier of fact, did so in this matter. Thus, we disagree with the dissenting opinion's view and we opt to defer to the trial court's decision with respect to witness credibility and the weight of the evidence.
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