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WINDER v. PAUL LIGHT BUCKHEAD JEEP EAGLE CHRYSLER PLYMOUTH INC | FindLaw
WINDER v. PAUL LIGHT BUCKHEAD JEEP EAGLE CHRYSLER PLYMOUTH INC
Nos. A01A0140, A01A0141.
Foster & Foster, Donald R. Foster, Christina M. Harris, Jonesboro, Melnick, Moore & Elliott, Atlanta, Larry M. Melnick, Jonesboro, for appellant. Fain, Major, Wiley & Brennan, Gene A. Major, Brian H. Alligood, Atlanta, Deborah L. Morgan, Marietta, for appellee (case no. A01A0140). Arrington & Hollowell, Gary W. Diamond, Teri E. Brown, Atlanta, for appellee (case no. A01A0141).
In March 1996, Maryanne Winder bought a 1987 Corvette from Paul Light's Buckhead Jeep Eagle Chrysler Plymouth, Inc. which had recently acquired the car as a trade-in from the only previous owner, Richard F. Rivers. Shortly after the purchase, Winder claimed she discovered the car's odometer had previously been tampered with and set back to reflect lower than actual mileage. She sued Paul Light's and Rivers alleging that both defendants knowingly tampered with and set back the odometer and that Paul Light's knowingly sold her the car with the altered odometer, all with the intent to defraud her in violation of OCGA § 40-8-5. Winder appeals from the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Paul Light's in Case No. A01A0140 and in favor of Rivers in Case No. A01A0141. We consolidate these appeals for consideration in this opinion. As to Winder's claims against Paul Light's, we find the evidence was sufficient to create a jury issue on the claim that Paul Light's knowingly sold the car with an altered odometer but was insufficient to create a jury issue on the claim that Paul Light's knowingly tampered with the odometer. Accordingly, we affirm in part and reverse in part the grant of summary judgment in Case No. A01A0140. Because the evidence was sufficient to create a jury issue on Winder's claim that Rivers tampered with the odometer, we reverse the grant of summary judgment in Case No. A01A0141.
As a result of the inspection, Winder contacted the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs on March 15, 1996, and arranged for an odometer fraud investigator in that office, Russell Laurens, to inspect the car's odometer. Laurens testified by deposition that his inspection showed the odometer had been tampered with. Upon close inspection, Laurens observed “numerous scratches and pick marks and gouges on the numeral wheels” of the odometer, indicative of tampering. He also observed that the odometer's tamper-resistant strip had indentations, that the odometer numeral wheel assembly was partially lifted from its frame, and that the pinion carrier plate on the odometer was bent, all of which were strong indicators of tampering. A service sticker showed that the car's dash had been removed and the instrument panel cluster serviced in 1989, but Laurens' opinion was that the markings and damage to the odometer that he observed were not inadvertently caused during the servicing. Moreover, he noted there was no odometer change sticker on the car indicating that the odometer itself had been legitimately serviced. Although Laurens testified that the odometer tampering was done with more skill than that of an average layman, he also said he would not expect to find the gross marks and gouges he observed if a shop experienced in odometer service and repair had altered the odometer. Laurens also contacted Rivers and asked for service records on the car. He said Rivers provided him with some emission inspection records but did not respond to his request for service records.
In reviewing the paperwork on Winder's purchase of the car, Laurens discovered discrepancies in the odometer disclosure statement provided at the time ownership of the car was transferred from Rivers to Paul Light's on February 13, 1996. The statement showed Rivers' name typed in as the transferor and stated that the odometer read 16,937 miles. However, the statement indicated not that this was the car's actual mileage, but that “the odometer reading reflects the amount of mileage in excess of its mechanical limits.” Laurens testified that this statement indicated the odometer reading of 16,937 miles should actually be read as showing the car had traveled 116,937 miles. The statement failed to contain the required signature by the transferor but did contain a signature for the transferee, Paul Light's. Subsequently, Laurens had a meeting with Paul Light's during which Paul Light's produced a revised odometer disclosure statement which was signed by Rivers as the transferor, dated February 13, 1996, and stated that the odometer reading of 16,937 miles reflected the car's actual mileage.
In support of his motion for summary judgment, Rivers gave an affidavit in which he stated that he bought the Corvette new in March 1988, owned it until he traded it in to Paul Light's on the purchase of another car in February 1996, and received a $13,000 trade-in allowance. He said he drove the car only periodically as a pleasure car, kept it in a garage in excellent condition, and that the car's odometer registered 16,974 miles when he traded it in to Paul Light's. Rivers stated that he never tampered with the car's odometer, never directed anyone else to do so, and was not aware of anyone else tampering with the odometer. According to Rivers, the low mileage shown on the odometer was accurate and consistent with the car's condition. Rivers provided emissions inspection records for the car for four years from 1992 to 1995 showing the following odometer readings on the inspection dates: 1992-11,250 miles; 1993-12,596 miles; 1994-13,550 miles; 1995-15,604 miles.
1. The testimony given by the odometer fraud investigator, Laurens, showing tampering with the odometer, along with the testimony from the mechanics that the car appeared to have substantially more miles on it than shown by the odometer, provided direct and circumstantial evidence sufficient to create a factual issue precluding summary judgment as to whether someone had tampered with the odometer by setting it back to reflect lower than actual mileage in violation of OCGA § 40-8-5. Lau's Corp. v. Haskins, 261 Ga. 491, 405 S.E.2d 474 (1991). Although the trial court did not give the reasons for its grant of summary judgment in favor of Paul Light's and Rivers, to the extent the court concluded there was insufficient evidence of odometer tampering, this was error.
2. A factual issue precluding summary judgment was also presented as to whether Paul Light's violated OCGA § 40-8-5(c) by knowingly selling the car to Winder when it reflected lower mileage than the car had actually been driven due to odometer tampering in violation of OCGA § 40-8-5(a).
Paul Light's denies selling the car in violation of OCGA § 40-8-5 and points to evidence that it acquired the car with 16,937 miles on the odometer in a condition consistent with the low odometer reading and with assurances from Rivers that he drove the car only occasionally. However, other evidence was presented from which a jury could conclude that Paul Light's knew or should have known when it sold the car to Winder that it had been driven substantially more miles than was reflected on the odometer.
Paul Light's was aware of the February 13 odometer disclosure statement indicating the car's odometer reading reflected mileage in excess of the odometer's mechanical limits. Although this was not evidence of odometer tampering in violation of OCGA § 40-8-5, a trier of fact could conclude that it was evidence showing the 1987 car had been driven far in excess of the 16,937 miles reflected on the odometer when Paul Light's acquired the car in February 1996. If Paul Light's had reason to suspect that the car's odometer reading was inaccurate, then it had a duty to reasonably investigate that suspicion before selling the car to Winder and giving her an odometer disclosure statement certifying that the odometer reading was accurate. Testimony from the mechanic who inspected the car for Winder three days after the purchase showed that a cursory visual inspection of the car and the engine compartment revealed clear signs that the car had been driven substantially more miles than the mileage reading on the odometer. A trier of fact could conclude from this evidence that Paul Light's had reason to suspect that the 1987 car had been driven more miles than the odometer reflected and it knew or should have known by conducting a reasonable investigation that the odometer reading was not accurate when it sold the car to Winder. The trial court erred by granting summary judgment in favor of Paul Light's on this issue.
3. Winder contends the circumstantial evidence was sufficient to create a jury issue as to whether Paul Light's and Rivers violated OCGA § 40-8-5(a) by knowingly tampering with and setting back the car's odometer so as to reflect a lower mileage than the car had actually been driven.
Frazier v. Ga. R. & Banking Co., 108 Ga. 807, 33 S.E. 996 (1899). In other words, circumstantial evidence has no probative value in establishing a fact where such evidence is consistent with direct, unimpeached evidence showing the nonexistence of such fact. Blount v. Sutton, 114 Ga.App. 767, 770, 152 S.E.2d 777 (1966). Put another way,
Griffin v. Blackshear Bank, 66 Ga.App. 821, 825, 19 S.E.2d 325 (1942).
It is also true that for an inference drawn from circumstantial evidence to be sufficient to create a genuine issue of fact precluding summary judgment, it must be reasonable and must amount to more than mere speculation, conjecture, or possibility. Pafford v. Biomet, 264 Ga. 540, 544, 448 S.E.2d 347 (1994); Butler v. Huckabee, 209 Ga.App. 761, 762, 434 S.E.2d 576 (1993).
Accordingly, there was evidence showing that Rivers had ample opportunity and motive for the tampering and that the tampering was not done by a professional. The circumstantial evidence in support of Winder's tampering claim against Rivers points at least more strongly to a conclusion opposite to Rivers' testimony denying the claim and is sufficient to allow a jury to draw reasonable inferences in favor of the claim. The trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Rivers on this issue. Joseph Charles Parrish, Inc. v. Hill, 173 Ga.App. 97, 98-99, 325 S.E.2d 595 (1984).
Judgment affirmed in part and reversed in part in Case No. A01A0140. Judgment reversed in Case No. A01A0141.