Opinion ID: 1841541
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: coleman and the tractor

Text: In 1974 District 1 began operating a public park consisting of approximately 33 acres, named East Central Park. In 1976 clearing was started on a 97-acre tract for a public golf course, also in District 1, which opened in 1978 and was named Jackson County Public Golf Course. In 1976 Coleman was the owner of a small tractor and bushhog. According to Coleman, he told Cumbest he would like the job of cutting the grass in the park, and about a week later, Cumbest told him to talk to Vaughan about doing the work, since Vaughan had a contract with the county for cutting grass. [4] When he talked with Vaughan, Coleman told Vaughan he would do the work for $7.50 per hour. Following this, each month Coleman would give H & O a handwritten ticket stating a certain number of hours, bushhog work, the charge, and signed Dale Coleman. The tickets were also dated. According to Vaughan, Cumbest contacted him in 1976: A I rent draglines, bulldozers, loader graders, backhoes, front end loaders, dump trucks, asphalt distributors, rollers, bushhogs, lowboys.       A Yes, sir. I don't remember the exact date and time of it. But Mr. Cumbest called me in reference to handling a bushhog. Mr. Coleman owned a tractor and a bushhog and was doing work for the County, but he couldn't bill it to the County because he didn't have a bid with them. And Mr. Cumbest said he would like for me to handle it because I did have a bid with the County and could legally run it through my books and handle it for him. Q What words did Mr. Cumbest use as best you can remember about how you were going to handle it? A Well, Mr. Coleman would just turn in his bill to me for his work and I would take my bid price on that particular piece of equipment and invoice the County for it, and when I got paid I would turn around and pay Mr. Coleman. Q What was the agreement, Mr. Vaughan, concerning billing with the County? What was your agreement with Mr. Cumbest? A Well, really wasn't any agreement; I mean just he had asked me if I would be willing to do that, and I told him I would be glad to do it. And I was, because I was doing quite a bit of other work for the County anyway. I would just call up every month whatever Mr. Coleman turned in and get it approved by Mr. Cumbest. Q By every month; from 1976 through '79  is that what you are talking about? A I do every month. If I do any work for a Supervisor, at the end of the month when it is time to turn the bills in I call him up and talk to him and ask him how he wants it invoiced; what he wants it charged to. I tell him how much was charged and what they were and everything, so he is aware of what it is. And then he tells me what to charge it to and how to handle it. Q For instance, in the case of Dale Coleman's bushhog and tractor, tell us how that worked in the years 1976 through '79? Each month how did that work? A Well, Mr. Coleman gave me the bill. I would take the hours on his bill and multiply it by my price. Q Was there a difference there, Mr. Vaughan? A difference between what he charged and you did? A Yes sir, there was. He started off around Six Dollars ($6.00) an hour; then he went to Seven and a Half ($7.50); and then he went to Nine ($9.00), and then to Ten ($10.00). My price at the time was Nine Dollars ($9.00), and he was bidding $6.00 and $7.50; that's what I was paying him. I was making Two to Two and a Half ($2.00-$2.50) an hour above what he was making. It was worth that much to handle it  run it through my books and handle it. That was my bid price. Q And did Mr. Cumbest agree with you that you could charge your bid price? A Yes sir, that was the bid price to the county on all bushhog work. The testimony of Vaughan, Coleman and Cumbest as to this arrangement was in material agreement. Coleman would give H & O a ticket of his charge, Vaughan would thereafter discuss with Cumbest his monthly bill for rental of equipment, as well as a charge for Coleman, and then include Coleman's bill in the H & O invoice for the monthly rental of all equipment to District 1, but at the bid charge of H & O for bushhog rental, always a higher rate than Coleman was charging H & O. Neither Vaughan nor any other person connected with H & O attempted to supervise or in any manner check upon the work Coleman did in the park. Other than perhaps seeing Coleman's tractor and bushhog on one or two occasions, Vaughan knew nothing about his equipment and he knew absolutely nothing about the work Coleman was doing. There was no dispute in the testimony that Vaughan would always discuss the H & O bill with Cumbest before filing the invoice with the purchase clerk. Over forty H & O invoices were offered into evidence for the 42-month period beginning April, 1976, and ending September, 1979. Upon several occasions, a claim by H & O would include more than one invoice, in which one of the invoices was directed to payment by District 1, and the other was directed to payment by District 2 funds. Of the H & O invoices paid by District 1 funds, the vast majority make no mention of bushhog rental. Vaughan testified the reason these invoices made no mention of bushhog rental was that he was instructed by Cumbest to invoice the county in this manner. Following such instruction Vaughan would thus include Coleman's charges at the hourly bid rate of H & O for bushhog rental under some charge such as dragline work, backhoe work or grader work. Cumbest denied he ever told Vaughan to disguise or conceal Coleman's hours or charges in any such manner. Thirty-four of the H & O invoices to the county for equipment rental to District 1 contained no notation or clue that any of the rental charges are for bushhog rental. When Coleman was shown each of these invoices by the purchase clerk, and then signed a requisition for such work, as well as a receiving report acknowledging the performance of the work as set out in the invoices, he knew that part of the invoice covering rental for work presumably done on roads and bridges in District 1 had not been performed. Somewhere in the invoice there was a concealed charge to the county for money H & O was going to pay him. Despite this, Coleman signed a requisition and a receiving report which each tracked the language of the services contained in the invoice. [5] At the trial, Cumbest expressed astonishment that the invoices and charges to District 1 had been made in this manner. He testified that after he and Vaughan agreed on a price for the month, he never checked any of H & O's claims except the bottom line. The same arrangement used on the park continued on the golf course. The H & O invoices began April 22, 1976, and ended September 24, 1979. Because of a hurricane, Vaughan had none of the Coleman tickets prior to August 22, 1977. There were sixteen exhibits introduced at trial, evidencing claims made prior to August 22, 1977. In these sixteen exhibits, six of the H & O invoices reflected a charge for bush hog rental. [6] These six exhibits showed H & O had paid Coleman $3,529.50 and had charged the county $4,609.50, a return of $1,080.00 for whatever service H & O was rendering the county. In the remaining ten exhibits, none of the H & O invoices mentioned bushhogging. There is no way to examine any of the H & O invoices contained in these exhibits and determine what H & O was in fact charging the county for the amount it was paying Coleman. The only thing we have is Vaughan's testimony that somewhere in the H & O invoices is buried Coleman's charge for that month's bushhog work. The remaining 26 exhibits include the monthly ticket or tickets Coleman submitted to H & O. Eight of these remaining exhibits include two tickets from Coleman to H & O [7] and in each of these one of the tickets was paid from District 2 funds of Jackson County, General Recreation Fund, and the other was paid by District 1. In all H & O invoices to be paid by District 2 funds, the invoices billed for bushhog rental and showed the same number of hours shown on the Coleman ticket. On these District 2 charges, H & O paid Coleman a total of $4,365.00, and charged Jackson County $6,696.00, or a $2,331.00 service charge for its billing. With the exception of Exhibit 39, in the remaining 26 exhibits, which included claims paid by District 1 funds, none of the H & O invoices included any reference to bushhog rental. Again there is no way to examine any of these invoices and determine: how much represents the amount H & O was paying Coleman, how much H & O was charging the county for this billing service, and which part is genuine. The best Vaughan could do was testify the bill was correct, except for the amount paid Coleman, plus his billing rate (whatever that was), contained somewhere in the invoice. The 42 exhibits include the 42 months from April, 1976, through September, 1979. Thirty-two of these exhibits included tickets of the number of hours Coleman was charging H & O that particular month for bushhog work. In these 32 months, Coleman put in a charge to H & O of a total of 3,637.5 hours  or a monthly average of 113 2/3 hours. These tickets were the only record produced of the work Coleman claimed to have performed on bushhogging. Coleman testified he also kept the number of hours he had put in each month in a little black book, but such a record was never offered in evidence. Louis C. Green, his son, Louis, Jr., and son-in-law, Eddie Patrick, testified as State's witnesses. Green testified they bushhogged for Coleman from 1976 to 1979 at East Central Park, and cut grass at the golf course at certain times. They were paid $2.50 per hour, and kept a record of time from the time meter on Coleman's tractor. They would take the meter reading on the 19th of the month and give it to Coleman and were paid in cash. In 1979, their hourly rate was increased to $3.00. According to Green, for not over five days a week, they averaged two-three hours a day, during the months of May, June, July, August, and September. They did no cutting in the winter months. During the period they were cutting grass, Green never saw any person using Coleman's tractor except one of the three of them. They were paid $200-$300 per month from May through September the years they worked. According to Patrick, during the period they were using the bushhog, the tractor meter did not record any other person using the tractor. According to Patrick, two hours per day was about the maximum they mowed any one day, and they could not cut grass on the days it rained. They never cut grass in winter months, and he never saw the tractor used in winter months. The Greens and Patrick had fulltime jobs; the bushhogging was done during their off hours. The State also offered proof that in the month of July, 1979, it had rained fourteen days in Jackson County. Coleman presented H & O with two tickets on July 20, 1979, one for 136 hours to be charged to District 1, and the other for 112 hours to be charged to District 2. These are part of Exhibit 37. According to Coleman and his two sons, Harold and Gerald, the Greens and Patrick were not the only persons who did the bushhog work. They testified that they also cut the grass in the park and on the golf course. They, likewise, testified they cut a lot of grass on the golf course in the winter months and were working twelve months a year. Coleman testified the hours he charged H & O for bushhogging were true and accurate. The circumstances of Coleman's charges to H & O and from H & O to Jackson County were brought to light when the Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating Vaughan on a federal charge in the State of Alabama. Vaughan pleaded guilty to the federal charges and cooperated with the State in furnishing records of his transactions. Following trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty as to both Cumbest and Coleman, and judgment of conviction was thereupon entered. Coleman has not prosecuted an appeal.