Opinion ID: 1057977
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mrs. Perkins' Liability

Text: In their second, third, and fifth issues, the Whaleys assert, in summary, that the Court of Appeals erred in vacating the judgment against Mrs. Perkins. The Whaleys argue that the intermediate court improperly applied the standard of review and thereby erred in finding that there is no material evidence to support the jury's verdict against Mrs. Perkins. They also argue that the defendants, including Mrs. Perkins, are jointly and severally liable to the plaintiffs.
The applicable standard of review is set out in Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 13(d), which provides, [f]indings of fact by a jury in civil actions shall be set aside only if there is no material evidence to support the verdict. Discussing that standard of review, we have stated: When addressing whether there is material evidence to support a verdict, an appellate court shall: (1) take the strongest legitimate view of all the evidence in favor of the verdict; (2) assume the truth of all evidence that supports the verdict; (3) allow all reasonable inferences to sustain the verdict; and (4) discard all [countervailing] evidence. Crabtree Masonry Co. v. C & R Constr., Inc., 575 S.W.2d 4, 5 (Tenn.1978); Black v. Quinn, 646 S.W.2d 437, 439-40 (Tenn. App.1982). Appellate courts shall neither reweigh the evidence nor decide where the preponderance of the evidence lies. If the record contains any material evidence to support the verdict, [the jury's findings] must be affirmed; if it were otherwise, the parties would be deprived of their constitutional right to trial by jury. Crabtree Masonry Co., 575 S.W.2d at 5. Barnes v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 48 S.W.3d 698, 704-05 (Tenn.2000). Based upon our independent review of the evidence, we conclude that the Court of Appeals did not err in its application of the standard of review, nor did the intermediate court err in finding that there is no material evidence to support the jury's verdict finding that Mrs. Perkins had made an intentional misrepresentation to the Whaleys. The evidence is virtually undisputed that Mrs. Perkins made no representations of any kind to the Whaleys, because she had no contact with the Whaleys at the time the Beshireses sold the property to the Whaleys. While the Whaleys assert that Mrs. Perkins' initial involvement in the Beshireses' construction of the house and her verbal agreement with Mrs. Beshires (concerning either the return of two acres or payment for two acres upon the Beshireses' sale of the property) implicated her in the Beshireses' intentional misrepresentations to the Whaleys, we reject that argument. There simply is no evidence that Mrs. Perkins had any role in the Beshireses' sale of the property to the Whaleys. We therefore must affirm the Court of Appeals' holding that there is no material evidence supporting the jury's finding that Mrs. Perkins made any intentional misrepresentations to the Whaleys. [4]