HOWARD J. LEVINE, APPELLANT,
v.
ROBERT R. FRANK ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1975-04-08
No. 74-552
Before PEARSON, HAVERFIELD and NATHAN, JJ.
311 So. 2d 708 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1975) Positive Treatment
Cited by 9 cases

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Synopsis

The appellate court reviewed a directed verdict granted by the trial court in favor of the defendants after the plaintiff presented his evidence in a multi-count damages case.


Holding

The appellate court affirmed the directed verdict in favor of the defendants, finding that the plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence to support his claims.


Headnotes

[1] A motion for a directed verdict requires the moving party to admit all facts proved by the evidence and all favorable inferences that a jury might reasonably draw.

[2] When considering a motion for a directed verdict at the close of the plaintiff's case, the trial court must evaluate the testimony in the light most favorable to the plai…

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Facts & Procedural History

The plaintiff invested in a business venture and alleged that the defendant attorney, who helped incorporate the business, agreed to hold the plaintif…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Howard J. Levine, plaintiff in the trial court, appeals a directed verdict in favor of the defendants entered during a jury trial, at the dose of the evidence presented by the plaintiff. The complaint alleged several counts for damages, including one count for conversion.

The case arose in the following manner: In 1964, one S. Richard Bauman approached the plaintiff, Howard J. Levine, with an offer of SO per cent in a business venture in Memphis, Tennessee. The plaintiff agreed to participate, and each man put up $3,000 to purchase the parcel of property on which they intended to build a motel. The plaintiff contacted his cousin, the defendant, Robert Frank, a licensed Florida attorney who agreed to incorporate the venture and help get a motel franchise. Defendant Frank performed the said services and received 10 per cent of the plaintiff’s stock in payment. At trial, the plaintiff claimed that he gave Frank 10 per cent of his stock for the corporate work and also for personal legal services. Frank denied any personal attorney-client relationship. Thereafter, without advice from defendant Frank, Levine negotiated a sale of his remaining 40 per cent of the corporate stock to Bauman, his partner in the corporation. Frank was an officer of the corporation and he kept the corporate books. Levine and Bauman asked Frank to draft the sales agreement and a note for the purchase price of $40,000 which was signed by Bauman and his wife.

At trial, the plaintiff, Levine, claimed that the agreement contained an escrow agreement whereby the defendant, Frank, agreed to hold plaintiff’s stock as escrow agent and not release it to Bauman until the amount of the note plus interest had been paid. Frank claimed that although an escrow agreement was to have been draft ed later, it was never written, he never agreed to be the escrow agent and he was never advised not to release the stock. Subsequently, Bauman requested that Frank issue the stock to him as per the sales agreement. Frank, then, as secretary of the corporation, issued 100 per cent of the stock to Bauman and himself in order to obtain secondary financing. It is undisputed that the stock was issued by defendant Frank to Bauman before the note was due and before the note obligation of $40,000 was paid to Levine. The plaintiff instituted litigation on the note in Tennessee, but settled for $12,000 and signed a release of the entire obligation. Thereafter, Levine filed the instant lawsuit against the named defendants in Dade County, Florida. A jury trial was held and after all of the plaintiff’s evidence was presented, the defendant moved for a directed verdict, the court granted the motion and this appeal ensued.

On motion for directed verdict, the moving party admits all facts proved by the. evidence adduced and every conclusion favorable to the non-moving party that the jury might fairly and reasonably infer from the evidence. Darr v. Aglin, Fla.App. 1973, 279 So. 2d 62. The evidence must be considered in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Seigel v. Mt. Sinai Hospital of Greater Miami, Inc., Fla.App.1971, 250 So. 2d 332. In considering a defendant’s motion for directed verdict at the close of the plaintiff’s case, the trial judge is “ . . . required to evaluate the testimony in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, who is entitled to all reasonable inferences deducible from the evidence.” Sparks v. Ober, Fla.App. 1968, 216 So. 2d 483, 484.

“The law in Florida on directed verdicts is clear. A trial court may not grant a directed verdict against a plaintiff unless the evidence and all inferences drawn therefrom, when viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff, are such that the jury could not lawfully find a verdict for plaintiff.” Lasby v. Wood, Fla.App. 1973, 274 So. 2d 894, 895. Accord, Florida East Coast Railway Company v. Morgan, Fla.App.1968, 213 So. 2d 632.

The court’s view of the plaintiff’s evidence on motion by a defendant for a directed verdict must favor the plaintiff and any conflict in the evidence must be resolved in favor of the plaintiff. Beagle v. Bagwell, Fla.App.1968, 215 So. 2d 24, 26; Thee v. Manor Pines Convalescent Center, Inc., Fla.App. 1970, 235 So. 2d 64. In Jones v. Hoffman, Fla.App.1970, 239 So. 2d 76, the court states at page 78 that “(i)n passing on a motion for directed verdict the trial court must accept as true all of the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom which tend to support the position of the party moved against.”

After careful study of the briefs, the transcript and the record on appeal, we find that the trial court was eminently correct in granting the motion for a directed verdict as to each count except as to the count for conversion of the stock held as security for the note. The complaint alleges sufficient allegations for conversion of plaintiff’s stock.

The plaintiff’s evidence as to conversion, adduced at the trial was sufficient to support the allegations in the complaint and to survive the motion for directed verdict. Therefore, the directed verdict as to the count for conversion is reversed and the cause is remanded to the circuit court for a trial on the merits of the count for conversion.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded with directions.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Thor Bear, Inc. v. Crocker Mizner Park, Inc., 648 So. 2d 168 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)
    …In considering a motion for a directed verdict, the trial court is required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and draw all reasonable conclusions and inferences favorable to the nonmoving party. Levine v. Frank, 311 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975), cert. denied, 327 So. 2d 33 (Fla.1976). A directed verdict should not be granted unless no view of the evidence could support a verdict for the non-moving party. Tesher & Tesher, P.A. v. Rothfield, 387 So. 2d 499 (Fla. 4th DCA 19…
  • Reams v. Blanche Vaughn and Herman Vaughn, 435 So. 2d 879 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983)
    …directed verdict, the court must view the evidence adduced and every conclusion therefrom in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, resolving every conflict and inference for that party. This is the test at the trial level, Levine v. Frank, 311 So. 2d 708, 710 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975), as well as the standard of review at the appellate level. McDonald v. McGowan, 402 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). If, in applying this test, no view of the evidence could sustain a verdict for the party moved against, then…
  • Ritz v. Fla. Patient's Comp. Fund, 436 So. 2d 987 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983)
    …at this was error warranting reversal. In reviewing the entry of a directed verdict, we must consider the evidence and all allowable inferences in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. This is the test at the trial level, Levine v. Frank, 311 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975), as well as the standard of review at the appellate level. McDonald v. McGowan, 402 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). If, in applying this test, no view of the evidence could sustain a verdict for the party moved against, then the…

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