GENERAL ACCIDENT FIRE AND LIFE ASSURANCE CORPORATION, LTD., APPELLANT,
v.
CHARLES M. SKAFF, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1966-12-06
No. H-504
CARROLL, DONALD K., and SACK, JJ., concur.
193 So. 2d 21 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1966) Positive Treatment
Cited by 3 cases

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Synopsis

General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation appealed a jury verdict in a replevin action for a 1965 Cadillac, where the jury found that defendant Skaff had the right to possession. The court affirmed, holding that vehicle identification was a jury question on which reasonable people could draw conflicting inferences from the evidence.


Holding

The identification of the vehicle was properly a jury question because reasonable people could draw different inferences from the evidence regarding which identification number was the true serial number. The trial court did not err in submitting this issue to the jury or in denying plaintiff's motions for directed verdict and new trial.


Key Quotes

“It is our view that the matter of identification was one to be determined by the jury on the evidence before it, from which evidence reasonable men might have properly drawn different or conflicting inferences.”

Establishes that vehicle identification was a proper jury question where reasonable inferences could differ

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Facts & Procedural History

Plaintiff claimed ownership of a 1965 Cadillac via an assignment of a certificate of title from Illinois, alleging the vehicle was stolen and transpor…

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Opinion of the Court
WIGGINTON, Acting Chief Judge.

WIGGINTON, Acting Chief Judge.

The unsuccessful plaintiff in a replevin action has appealed a final judgment based upon a jury’s verdict which found right to possession of the motor vehicle in dispute to be vested in the defendant.

By its action plaintiff alleged itself to be the owner of a 1965 Cadillac automobile under an assignment of a certificate of title issued to the original purchaser by the State of Illinois. Plaintiff claims that the vehicle was stolen from the owner and transported to the State of Florida where it eventually came into the possession of defendant.

Defendant claims to be the owner of the vehicle by having purchased it in good faith, and for value, from an automobile dealer in Jacksonville, which ownership is evidenced by a certificate of title issued to defendant by the State Motor Vehicle Commissioner of Florida.

The vehicle found in defendant’s possession is of the same general description contained in the title certificate held by each of the parties to this action. Stamped on the frame of the vehicle is a number which corresponds with the serial or identification number appearing in plaintiff’s title certificate. A plastic plate attached to the doorpost of the vehicle bears a number corresponding to the serial or identification number appearing in defendant’s title certificate.

The sole issue submitted to the jury for its decision was the question of identification of the vehicle. Appellant urges that the only credible evidence before the jury revealed that the true serial or identification number of the vehicle was that stamped on the frame which corresponds with the serial number appearing in its title certificate. Defendant quite naturally takes the contrary position and asserts that the evidence reveals more than one number to be stamped on the frame of the vehicle, and the jury was privileged to believe that those numbers denoted something other than the serial number of the vehicle. From this revelation defendant insists that the true serial or identification number was that appearing on the plastic plate attached to the doorpost which corresponded with the serial number on his title certificate, and the jury was justified in so concluding.

It is our view that the matter of identification was one to be determined by the jury on the evidence before it, from which evidence reasonable men might have properly drawn different or conflicting inferences. We therefore conclude that the trial court was correct in submitting this issue to the jury, and did not err in denying appellant’s initial and renewed motions for a directed verdict, and its motion for a new trial. We are not authorized to retry the case on the evidence, or to substitute our judgment for that of a jury.1

The judgment appealed is accordingly affirmed.

CARROLL, DONALD K., and SACK, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • …Certiorari denied without opinion. 193 So. 2d 21.…
  • Fed. Ins. Co. & Theodore R. Abdenour v. Mercer, 237 So. 2d 243 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970)
    …against plaintiff R. B. Mercer and his surety for the value of the replevined automobile and costs as provided by F.S. Section 78.21, F.S.A. WALDEN and OWEN, JJ., concur. . In General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corp. v. Skaff, Fla.App.1966, 193 So. 2d 21, a replevin action involving a 1965 Cadillac, plaintiff claimed under an assignment of an original certificate of title issued in Illinois bearing an identification number corresponding to the number stamped on the frame. Plaintiff claimed the vehic…

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