SUNBANK, N.A.; APEX MUNICIPAL FUND, INC.; SOUTHWARD & COMPANY; STEINROE MUNICIPAL TRUST; AND DREYFUS STRATEGIC MUNICIPALS, INC., APPELLANTS,
v.
RETIREMENT FACILITY AT PALMAIRE, LTD., A FLORIDA LIMITED PARTNERSHIP; PARC-M, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION; GEORGE A. JANKE; WARREN D. JOHNSON; MICHAEL J. RYAN; AND FRANK RYAN, APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1997-08-27
Nos. 96-1927, 96-1961
WARNER, J., and DONNER, AMY STEELE, Associate Judge, concur.
698 So. 2d 392 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1997) Positive Treatment
Cited by 5 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Buyers of real property sued the seller for breach of contract and sought specific performance. The jury found for the buyers on the breach of contract claim, but the trial court granted the seller's motion for directed verdict on the specific performance claim. The appellate court affirmed the jury verdict on breach of contract but reversed the directed verdict on specific performance, holding that the buyers were not given adequate opportunity to present evidence on the equitable claim at trial.


Holding

The court reversed the directed verdict on specific performance because the trial court failed to order or direct the buyers to present all their evidence on the equitable claim during the jury trial on the legal claim. When legal and equitable claims are interrelated, the buyers cannot be prevented from presenting evidence on the equitable claim merely because evidence was not presented during the jury trial if they were never directed to do so.


Headnotes

[1] A jury verdict on legal claims is supported by the record when the record contains sufficient evidence to sustain the verdict.

[2] A contract is sufficiently definite as to essential terms when a jury resolves that issue in favor of a party.

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Key Quotes

“It is basic that the trial to a judge on equitable claims cannot supplant the right to a jury trial on interrelated legal claims.”

Establishes the fundamental principle that equitable trials cannot override jury trial rights on related legal claims.

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Facts & Procedural History

The buyers (Sunbank, N.A., Apex Municipal Fund, Inc., Southward & Company, Steinroe Municipal Trust, and Dreyfus Strategic Municipals, Inc.) contracte…

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Opinion of the Court
FARMER, Judge.

FARMER, Judge.

In this action where the purported buyers of real property sued the alleged seller for both breach of contract and specific performance, the principal issues were whether there was a contract and whether there was a breach by the seller. The only issues submitted to the jury centered around the legal claims. The jury’s verdict in favor of the aggrieved buyers is supported by the record, and so we affirm it. We also affirm the trial court’s construction of the contract, as resolved by the jury, that it was sufficiently-definite as to essential terms.

On cross appeal, the buyers contend that it was error for the trial court to grant the post trial motion of the seller for judgment in accord with a motion for directed verdict, made during trial, on the specific performance claim. Buyers’ principal contention is that the equitable claim was never fully tried during the jury trial, and the court had ruled during trial that they could elect that remedy following the jury trial. The breach of contract claim of the buyers Ryan did not seek damages,1 while the breach of contract claim of the other buyers did pray for such damages. And shortly after the jury’s verdict, all of the buyers filed notices for nonjury trial on their specific performance claims.

It is basic that the trial to a judge on equitable claims cannot supplant the right to a jury trial on interrelated legal claims. Beacon Theatres Inc. v. Westover, 359 U.S. 500, 510-11, 79 S.Ct. 948, 957, 3 L.Ed.2d 988 (1959) (“only under the most imperative circumstances ... can the right to a jury trial of legal issues be lost through prior determination of equitable claims.”); Dairy Queen Inc. v. Wood, 369 U.S. 469, 82 S.Ct. 894, 8 L.Ed.2d 44 (1962); and Cerrito v. Kovitch, 457 So. 2d 1021 (Fla.1984). When legal and equitable claims are interrelated, as they demonstrably are here, as a practical consequence the jury trial usually precedes the equitable determination. Although a trial judge could certainly require that all evidence supporting both legal and equitable claims be adduced by the parties during the jury trial, with the judge to decide the equitable claims following the jury’s verdict, a trial judge is just as surely not bound to follow that procedure. It is entirely plausible that in a factually, procedurally and legally complex case, the judge could simply hold two trials, the first being the legal one before a jury.

We are unable to find anywhere in this record where the trial judge ordered the buyers to adduce all of their evidence on the specific performance claim during the jury trial on the breach of contract claim. Yet the basis for granting the post trial motion for judgment on the specific performance claim was that buyers had failed to adduce sufficient evidence to support such relief. Accordingly, we conclude that the record does not support the trial court’s judgment on the equitable claim because the buyers were never given the opportunity or direction to produce all of their evidence at the jury trial to support such equitable relief. We therefore reverse for a trial on the specific performance claim. We otherwise affirm on all issues not discussed.

REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR TRIAL ON EQUITABLE CLAIM.

WARNER, J., and DONNER, AMY STEELE, Associate Judge, concur. . Because the Ryans’ last pleading failed to seek money damages for the alleged breach, it was error to include the Ryans in the money judgment. On remand the trial court shall strike them from the judgment awarding money damages.


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Cited By

  • Paoli v. Natherson, 732 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)
    …hat the jury considered all evidence presented to it. If any party has evidence relevant to the accounting that was not presented to the jury, that party may raise this evidence on remand. See Sunbank, N.A. v. Retirement Facility at Palm-Aire, Ltd., 698 So. 2d 392 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Finally, we reverse the portion of the amended counterclaim judgment that granted Natherson and Gallagher prejudgment interest. The general rule is that prejudgment interest is allowed for actions based on contract from the dat…
  • The Allegro at Boynton Beach, LLC v. Pearson, 287 So. 3d 592 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019)
  • The Allegro AT Boynton Beach, L.L.C. v. Pearson, 227 So. 3d 1288 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017)
    …breached the parties’ agreement. If Allegro chooses to pursue the remedy of specific performance, it bears the evidentiary burden of establishing its entitlement to this equitable remedy. See Sunbank, N.A. v. Retirement Facility at Palm-Aire, Ltd., 698 So. 2d 392 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997).…

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