Deere & Co. v. First Nat'l Bank of Clarksdale
| Docket Number: | 2007-IA-01362-SCT Linked Case(s): 2007-IA-01362-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: |
Opinion Date: 11-13-2008 Opinion Author: Smith, C.J. Holding: Affirmed and Remanded |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Contract - Res judicata Judge(s) Concurring: Waller and Diaz, P.JJ., Easley, Carlson, Graves, Dickinson, Randolph and Lamar, JJ. |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 07-16-2007 Appealed from: Coahoma County County Court Judge: Charles Brett Case Number: 14-CO-01-0411 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Deere & Company and Parker Tractor & Implement Company, Inc. |
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| Appellee: | First National Bank of Clarksdale and Edward J. Johnson, Jr. d/b/a F & E Farm | |||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Contract - Res judicata |
| Summary of the Facts: | Appellee Johnson purchased a combine for $153,173.36 in 1994 from Parker Tractor, a retailer for Appellant Deere. Johnson made a single payment of $30,634.36, and made no more payments. Johnson claimed that the combine never operated properly and that Parker Tractor was unable to fix the problem. Johnson wrote a letter to Deere revoking acceptance of the combine, which revocation Deere refused to accept. Johnson continued to use the combine for three farming seasons, from 1994 through the spring of 1996. In the interim, after this protracted litigation was well underway, Deere eventually repossessed and sold the combine. In September 1995, Deere filed suit against Johnson in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi for failure to make payments on the loan. Johnson counterclaimed alleging breach of warranty. In October 1995, Johnson sued retailer Parker Tractor in the Coahoma County Circuit Court for breach of express warranty. Deere, as manufacturer of the combine, agreed to indemnify and defend Parker Tractor. The state case proceeded to trial, and a jury verdict was rendered in November 1996; the jury awarded Johnson $150,000. The trial court entered a remittitur for $60,000, leaving a final judgment in favor of Johnson for $90,000. The $90,000 judgment in favor of Johnson from the trial court proceedings was entered in February 1998. Deere, as indemnitor for Parker, timely posted a supersedeas bond staying execution of the $90,000 judgment, and Parker appealed the circuit court’s decision. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court judgment and remanded the case for a new trial. Deere filed a motion for rehearing which was granted. The Court affirmed the trial court’s decision, reinstating the $90,000 judgment in favor of Johnson. The federal case proceeded to trial while the state appeal on rehearing was pending, and the jury awarded nothing to either party. Upon motion by Deere, the district court judge amended the pleadings to conform to the evidence and entered an award in favor of Deere of $70,000, using the doctrine of quantum meruit to reimburse Deere for the time the combine had been used by Johnson. Both Johnson and Deere appealed. The Fifth Circuit reversed and remanded with instructions to enter a take-nothing verdict for Johnson. After the Fifth Circuit opinion directed a take-nothing verdict, the Supreme Court handed down a final judgment. Subsequently, Deere filed another federal suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi seeking to invalidate the $90,000 state judgment under the Federal Anti-Injunction Act. The district court rejected Deere’s claim. Deere filed a motion to reconsider, which was denied. Deere appealed to the Fifth Circuit which affirmed the district court’s decision. In doing so, the Fifth Circuit effectively acknowledged that its opinion directing a take-nothing judgment was a virtual nullity. First National Bank sued Johnson in the County Court of Coahoma County, seeking judgment in its favor in the amount $45,439.08, plus costs, due to Johnson’s default on a promissory note. A default judgment was entered against Johnson for a total of $50,439.08, for which execution was issued, thereby allowing First National Bank to seek a writ of garnishment and to seek to enforce the $90,000 judgment in favor of Johnson, which had not yet been satisfied. As Deere had agreed to indemnify Parker Tractor in the action which led to the $90,000 judgment, Deere is liable for the judgment amount to Johnson. Therefore, Deere was permitted to intervene as an interested party. Deere again sought to have the Supreme Court’s final judgment declared null and void. Both Deere’s motion for summary judgment and its motion to reconsider were denied by the county court, which held this matter was proper for interlocutory appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The underlying case has been decided to final judgment. Deere refuses to accept, and in fact completely ignores, the rulings of the Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, the Circuit Court of Coahoma County, and the Coahoma County Court, each of which has stated explicitly that the Supreme Court’s judgment is res judicata on the issue of Deere’s liability. Deere has been found liable for $90,000 in favor of Johnson. The current suit to enforce collection through writ of garnishment is proper and may not be dismissed on summary judgment because Deere prefers the take-nothing judgment rendered, and later implicitly declared moot, by the federal courts. |
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