Title: Triple D Trucking, Inc. v. Tri Sands, Inc.
Citation: 840 So. 2d 869
Docket Number: 1010553
State: Alabama
Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court
Date: July 3, 2002

840 So. 2d 869 (2002)
TRIPLE D TRUCKING, INC., et al.
v.
TRI SANDS, INC.
1010553.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
July 3, 2002.
*870 Che'Ree' M. Dudley, Bessemer, for appellants.
Carl Dalton NeSmith, Jr., of Smith &amp; NeSmith, P.C., Oneonta, for appellee.
HARWOOD, Justice.
Triple D Trucking, Inc., Dan Youngblood, and Danny Youngblood (hereinafter collectively referred to as "the defendants") appeal from the trial court's denial of their motion to set aside a default judgment entered against them. We affirm.
On August 4, 2000, Tri Sands, Inc., sued the defendants seeking damages on claims alleging breach of contract and fraud.[1] Specifically, Tri Sands alleged that it had entered into an oral contract with the defendants, which, it says, the defendants breached, and it claimed damages of $127,357. On September 11, 2000, and September 18, 2000, Danny Youngblood and Triple D Trucking, respectively, acting pro se, filed answers and motions to dismiss that stated, in pertinent part, that "[t]he claim of the Plaintiff in this complaint is on [an oral] contract, barred by the Statute of Frauds, and cannot be enforced." On November 21, 2000, Attorney Roy M. Johnson filed an entry of appearance on behalf of the defendants. On July 24, 2001, Johnson filed a motion to withdraw as the defendants' attorney; his motion stated, in pertinent part: "The Defendants have no objection to said withdrawal.... *871 The Defendants have been informed that this case is set for trial on August 29, 2001." On July 26, 2001, the trial court granted Johnson's motion to withdraw in an order. The trial court's order additionally stated that Johnson was to:
On August 29, 2001, Tri Sands and its counsel appeared for trial; the defendants failed to appear. At trial, counsel for Tri Sands elicited testimony from its president, Johnny Hopper. On that same day, the trial court entered an order on its case action summary that stated, in pertinent part:
On September 23, 2001, the defendants, represented by counsel, filed a motion to set aside, alter, or amend the trial court's default judgment against them. The motion stated that the defendants had a good defense to Tri Sands' claims based upon an affidavit of Carole Herman, which was attached to the motion. Herman's affidavit stated that she was an employee of Triple D Trucking and that she had knowledge that the amount claimed by Tri Sands as damages could not be substantiated. Herman made statements regarding several checks of various amounts allegedly retained and deposited by Tri Sands or Hopper. Attached to the affidavit were copies of checks and endorsements that Herman stated "appear to have been" made by Hopper. Herman's affidavit concluded by stating: "Triple D records show that the most that Hopper could claim would be $18,909.99. It is physically impossible for Hopper to prove that he is owed the $127,000 that he claims in his lawsuit."
The defendants' motion also argued that the trial court's judgment (1) was not supported by the evidence; (2) was in conflict with the facts in the case; (3) would unjustly enrich Tri Sands; and (4) would unduly and unjustly burden the defendants. Further, the motion stated that "[t]he [d]efendants were mistaken and confused about the actual conduct of this case on the setting date." The trial court conducted a hearing on the defendants' motion on October 11, 2001; it denied the motion that same day.[3] On November 21, *872 2001, the defendants filed a notice of appeal to this Court.
On appeal, the defendants argue that the trial court erred by denying their motion to set aside the default judgment.
Kirtland v. Fort Morgan Auth. Sewer Serv., Inc., 524 So. 2d 600, 603 (Ala.1988).
In Sampson v. Cansler, 726 So. 2d 632 (Ala.1998), this Court observed:
726 So. 2d  at 633-35.
In regard to the first Kirtland factor, i.e., whether the defendants have presented a meritorious defense, we note that the answers filed by Danny Youngblood and Triple D Trucking asserted a Statute of Frauds defense. However, as stated in footnote 3, the defendants assert that the trial court abused its discretion in denying their motion to set aside the default judgment based upon a consideration of only their motion and the attached affidavit. The defendants' motion stated that "[t]he Defendants have a good defense to the claim of the Plaintiff as is shown hereafter by the averments of and exhibits attached to this motion." While this Court has stated that "[m]erely stating that one has a meritorious defense is simply not enough," Phillips v. Randolph, 828 So. 2d 269, 274 (Ala.2002), Herman's affidavit testimony is attached to the defendants' motion. However, Herman's affidavit testimony does not support the Statute of Frauds defense previously asserted in Danny Youngblood's and Triple D Trucking's answers. Rather, the affidavit asserted only that the entire amount of damages claimed by Tri Sands could not be substantiated and that the most Hopper "could claim" would be $18,909.99. Therefore, the defendants' motion does not contain a defense to liability under either of Tri Sands' claims for breach of contract or fraud; rather, it challenges only the amount of damages recoverable. While this is not a complete defense to any claim presented by Tri Sands, arguably "sufficient evidence has been adduced either by way of affidavit or by some other means to warrant submission of the case to the jury," in regard to the amount of money the defendants owed to Tri Sands. Kirtland, 524 So. 2d  at 606. We conclude that the defendants have arguably presented "sufficient evidence ... to warrant submission of the case to the jury" pursuant to the first Kirtland factor.[4]
As to the second Kirtland factor, whether the plaintiff will be unfairly prejudiced, this Court has most recently set out the burden the defaulting party must *874 meet. In Phillips v. Randolph, supra, the defaulting party's motion to set aside stated: "`The Defendant avers that the Plaintiff will not be prejudiced by granting this motion.'" 828 So. 2d  at 275. This Court stated:
828 So. 2d  at 278. In this case, the defendants' motion to set aside the default judgment makes no statement that Tri Sands would not be unfairly prejudiced if the default judgment was set aside. In light of Phillips, we conclude that the defendants failed to meet their initial burden of showing that Tri Sands would not be prejudiced by setting aside the default judgment and thus failed to make the requisite showing under the second Kirtland factor.
In relation to the third Kirtland factor, whether the default judgment was the result of the defendant's culpable conduct, the defendants stated in their motion, in pertinent part, that "the [d]efendants were mistaken and confused about the actual conduct of this case on the setting date." In Phillips, supra, this Court observed:
828 So. 2d  at 278-79.
The only reason offered by the defendants in their brief to this Court concerning their confusion as to the date for which trial was set is the assertion, unsupported by any matter contained in the record before us, that the filing in the trial court by an attorney for Bonnie Youngblood (not Roy M. Johnson) of a suggestion of bankruptcy, which led to Bonnie Youngblood's being dismissed as a defendant, "confused [the defendants] about the case status." However, Johnson's motion to withdraw as the defendants' counsel stated that the defendants were informed that the case was set for August 29, 2001. Further, the defendants acknowledge in their brief that the trial court's order allowing Johnson to withdraw, stating that the August 29, 2001, trial would not be continued for their not having counsel, was forwarded to them on July 26, 2001.
We cannot ascertain any fact in the record to support an inference that the defendants' conduct was excusable negligence of the sort described by this Court in Sampson, supra, when discussing the third Kirtland factor. In the absence of any transcript of the hearing on the defendants' motion to set aside the default judgment, we will not presume that the trial court abused its discretion in its evaluation of the defendants' conduct. We therefore conclude that the defendants failed to make the showing required by the third Kirtland factorthat their failure to appear was not the result of their own culpable conduct.
In their effort to show that the trial court erred by refusing to set aside the default judgment, the defendants have presented only the possibility of a defense as to the amount of damages they might owe. The defendants have failed to make the required showing under Rule 55(c), Ala. R. Civ. P., and Kirtland that Tri Sands would not be prejudiced if the default judgment were set aside and that the default was not the result of their own culpable conduct. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying the defendants' motion to set aside the default judgment. The judgment of the trial court is due to be affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
SEE, BROWN, and STUART, JJ., concur.
MOORE, C.J., concurs in the result.
[1]  Bonnie Youngblood was originally named as a defendant in this action, but she was subsequently dismissed by order of the trial court.
[2]  A default judgment is proper under these circumstances. In Investors Guaranty Fund, Ltd. v. Compass Bank, 779 So. 2d 185, 192 (Ala.2000), this Court observed

"`"It is well established that if the defendant is properly within the jurisdiction of the court, and if he has notice of the trial date and does not appear and defend, the court has no choice but to enter judgment for the plaintiff."'"
(Quoting Creel v. Gator Leasing, Inc., 544 So. 2d 936, 937 (Ala.1989), in turn quoting Roberts v. Wettlin, 431 So. 2d 524, 526 (Ala. 1983)).
[3]  The record contains no transcript of the hearing on the defendants' motion. Thus, the defendants have failed to present us with anything from that hearing from which we could possibly conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in denying their motion to set aside the default judgment. However, the defendants state in their brief to this Court that the trial court's denial of their motion was erroneous "in consideration of the presentation made by the motion and in support of the motion by affidavit." Thus, out of an abundance of caution, we will consider the propriety of the trial court's judgment as it relates to the defendants' motion and the attached affidavit.
[4]  This Court has stated that the existence of a meritorious defense is "a threshold prerequisite when seeking to have a default judgment set aside." Kirtland, 524 So. 2d  at 605. Further, Kirtland set out the three factors using a conjunctive "and"; therefore, it is necessary to evaluate all three factors to determine whether a trial court's denial of a motion to set aside a default judgment was an abuse of discretion. See Jones v. Hydro-Wave of Alabama, Inc., 524 So. 2d 610 (Ala.1988)(despite defaulting party's presentation of a meritorious defense, culpability in failing to appear for trial precluded setting aside a default judgment).