JEAN SCHANKER AND SAMUEL SCHANKER, HER HUSBAND, APPELLANTS,
v.
RUBIN WOLLOWICK, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1962-07-31
No. 61-751
Before PEARSON, TILLMAN, C. J., .and HORTON and BARKDULL, JJ.
143 So. 2d 509 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1962) Positive Treatment
Cited by 5 cases

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Synopsis

The appellate court affirmed a lower court's judgment finding appellants liable on a promissory note. The appellants' defense of payment was not supported by sufficient evidence, and the court deferred to the trial court's findings of fact.


Holding

No, the trial court did not err. There was sufficient evidence to support the judgment, and the appellate court is not authorized to interfere with the trial court's findings of fact when there is substantial evidence to support them.


Key Quotes

“The defense urged by the appellants was payment of the note. This was in the nature of an affirmative defense and required them to sustain the burden of proof.”

Establishes the legal nature of the defense and the burden of proof.

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellants were sued by the appellee on a promissory note. The appellants claimed they had already paid the note, which was an affirmative defense. Th…

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Opinion of the Court
BARKDULL, Judge.

BARKDULL, Judge.

The appellants seek review of a final judgment, rendered subsequent to a non-jury trial, adjudicating that the appellants were liable on a certain promissory note •given to the appellee.

The defense urged by the appellants was payment of the note. This was in the nature of an affirmative defense and required them to sustain the burden of proof. Bacon v. Green, 36 Fla. 325, 18 So. 870; Heitman v. Davis, 127 Fla. 1, 172 So. 705; Hough v. Menses, Fla.1957, 95 So.2d 410; 25 Fla.Jur., Pleadings, § 77 The evidence adduced by the parties was conflicting on the question of payment; the appellee asserting that the obligation had not been paid; the appellants asserting that it had. The trier of the facts resolved these conflicts in the evidence in favor of the appellee, and the judgment arriving in this court with a presumption of correctness [Dade Engineering & Construction Co. v. D’Amato, Fla.App.1959, 108 So.2d 627; Bardee Corporation v. Arnold Altex Aluminum Co., Fla.App.1961, 134 So.2d 268], this court is not authorized to interfere with the judgment of the trial court unless there is no substantial evidence to support the judgment. Krohne v. Orlando Farming Corporation, Fla.App. 1958, 102 So.2d 399; Ross v. Florida Sun Life Insurance Company, Fla.App. 1960, 124 So.2d 892. There being evidence sufficient to sustain the judgment, it is the duty of this court to affirm the actions of the trial court. Chakford v. Strum, Fla.1956, 87 So.2d 419; First State Mortgage Company v. Steele Construction Company, Fla.App.1959, 111 So.2d 682. Therefore, the final judgment is hereby affirmed.

Affirmed.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Milenoff v. Paul Szilard Prods., Inc., 158 So. 2d 563 (Fla. 3d DCA 1963)
    …PER CURIAM. Affirmed upon the authority of Schanker v. Wollowick, Fla.App.1962, 143 So. 2d 509.…
  • Tucker v. Forty-Five Twenty-Five, Inc., 199 So. 2d 522 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967)
    …lished that the findings made by a judge in a non-jury trial are entitled to the weight of a jury verdict and will not be disturbed upon appeal, so long as there is substantial competent evidence to support them, Schanker v. Wollowick, Fla.App.1962, 143 So. 2d 509, as there was herein. No reversible error having been found in the' determination that there was no legally binding contract for the performance of a second Seder, it follows that the defendant breached no legal duty to Tucker in its actions in can…
  • Buchman v. Hirsch, 334 So. 2d 836 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976)
    …PER CURIAM. Affirmed on authority of the rule in Schanker v. Wollowick, Fla.App.1962, 143 So. 2d 509, and Jovanovich v. Aero-Tech, Inc., Fla.App.1973, 277 So. 2d 555.…

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