1939 Lewis County Courthouse Post Card, Vanceburg, Kentucky
Published Court of Appeals appellate cases for this week –
December 4, 2015: Links are to full text of PDF decision with AOC.
944. Fraud and forgery in business transactions
Mo-Jack Distributor, LLC vs. Tamarak Snacks, LLC
COA Published Opinion Reversing and remanding – Jefferson
THOMPSON, JUDGE: Mo-Jack Distributor, LLC and its owner, Charles T. Clark, (collectively Clark) appeal from a judgment entered following a jury trial. A jury found Clark committed fraud and forgery and awarded Tamarak Snacks, LLC and Tamarak’s owner, Richard Cohen, (collectively Cohen) $65,000 in compensatory damages and $95,000 in punitive damages. Clark alleges three errors: (1) the trial court erroneously instructed the jury on compensatory damages because the only evidence of damages was attorney fees incurred by Cohen in defending this action; (2) the award of punitive damages was constitutionally excessive; and (3) the trial court erred when it did not instruct the jury on an alleged breach of oral contract by Cohen. We agree the award of compensatory damages based only on evidence of the amount of attorney fees incurred by Cohen in defending this action must be reversed and this case remanded for an award of nominal damages and a new trial on the amount of punitive damages. We also hold Clark did not properly preserve his allegation of error regarding his oral contract claim.
947. Property forfeiture, drug conviction
David M. Gritton vs. Commonwealth of Kentucky
COA Published Opinion Reversing – Jefferson
D. LAMBERT, JUDGE: David Gritton (Gritton) appeals from the Jefferson Circuit Court’s March 18, 2014 order finding that a truck in his possession was forfeited pursuant to Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 218A.410. After review, we reverse the judgment.
951. Appeal dismissed for failure to preserve claim
Mark Riley vs. Commonwealth of Kentucky
COA Published Opinion Affirming – Kenton
J. LAMBERT, JUDGE: Mark Riley appeals from a Kenton Circuit Court judgment convicting him of first-degree bail jumping and being a second-degree persistent felony offender. He claims that the trial court erred in excluding his testimony. Because the claim is unpreserved, we affirm.
954. Criminal RCr 11.42 relief complaining motion denied for lack of evidentiary hearing was NOT timely filed
Robert Clark vs. Commonwealth of Kentucky
COA Published Opinion Affirming – Hopkins
957. Appeal Untimely
Edward H. Flint vs. Coach House, Inc.
COA Published Opinion and Order – Jefferson
MAZE, JUDGE: Appellant, Mr. Flint, proceeding pro se, filed this appeal from a March 4, 2015, order of the Jefferson Circuit Court denying his motion to recuse the trial judge, Hon A.C. McKay Chauvin. The trial court did not designate its order as final and appealable, and the trial court retained jurisdiction over the merits of Mr. Flint’s claims against the Appellee, Coach House, Inc. Coach House now moves to dismiss the appeal for failure to appeal from a final and appealable order. Mr. Flint filed a motion for enlargement of time to respond to the motion to dismiss and the motion for sanctions. The Court ORDERS that the motion for enlargement of time be GRANTED and the tendered response be FILED.
958. Affirmed RCr 11.42 Denial With Nunc Pro Tunc Order
Anthony Wayne Heflin vs. Commonwealth of Kentucky
COA Published Opinion Affirming – Fayette
961. Affirmed dismissal of Pro se motion to recuse
Edward Flint vs. Coach House, Inc.
COA Published Opinion and Order – JeffersonMAZE, JUDGE: Appellant Mr. Flint, proceeding pro se, filed this appeal from a June 3, 2015, order of the Jefferson Circuit Court denying his motion to recuse the trial judge, Hon. Mitch Perry. The trial court did not designate its order as final and appealable, and the trial court retained jurisdiction over the merits of Mr. Flint’s claims against the Appellee, Coach House, Inc. Coach House now moves to dismiss the appeal for failure to appeal from a final and appealable order.
Court of Appeal’s “not to be published” decisions on Trials, torts, insurance and civil procedure from November 6, 2015, in addition to the published decision above.
950. Appeal dismissed – not final and appealable
Katie McCormick vs. James Scott Reed Revocable Trust
COA Non-Published Opinion and Order Dismissing – Fayette
STUMBO, JUDGE: Appellants appeal from the entry of an order granting summary judgment in favor of Appellees. We dismiss this appeal because the summary judgment granted in this case was not final and appealable.
Click here for links to all the archived AOC Court of Appeals minutes at the web site for the Administrative Office of the Courts.
Click here for a listing of the Kentucky Court Report’s posts of the weekly COA minutes (or you can always access these within the KCR web site at the uppermost dropdown menu option for the Court of Appeals).
AOC version of this week’s decisions can be accessed by clicking here.
The complete set of this week’s minutes listing all decisions (published and not to be published) with links to the full text of each at the AOC, are below following short summaries of this week’s published cases and extracts of tort, insurance and procedure cases.
[gview file=”https://kycourtreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/MNT120420151.pdf”]
