Opinion ID: 1859809
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: whether delta outdoor, assuming arguendo a valid contract existed, sufficiently proved its measure of damages

Text: ¶ 13. Frierson alleges that Delta Outdoor failed to offer sufficient proof of the damages it suffered as a result of any alleged breach. On this point, we agree. The standard appropriate for the measure of contract damages was reaffirmed in Theobald v. Nosser, 752 So.2d 1036, 1042 (Miss.1999), when we held that [t]he court's purpose in establishing a measure of damages for breach of contract is to put the injured party in the position where she would have been but for the breach. Contract damages are ordinarily based on the injured party's expectation interest and are intended to give him the benefit of the bargain by awarding him a sum of money that will, to the extent possible, put him in as good a position as he would have been in had the contract been performed. (citations omitted). Specific performance has traditionally been regarded a remedy for breach of contract that is not a matter of right but of sound judicial discretion. Osborne v. Bullins, 549 So.2d 1337, 1339 (Miss.1989). Judicial discretion notwithstanding, where a contracting party can feasibly be given what he bargained for, specific performance is the preferred remedy. Id. ¶ 14. However, when the focus is a monetary remedy, that remedy must be such that the breaching party is not charged beyond the trouble his default caused. Wall v. Swilley, 562 So.2d 1252, 1256 (Miss.1990). The law limits speculation and conjecture and imposes duties of mitigation to the injured party. Id. Specifically, damages may only be recovered when the evidence presented at trial removes their quantum from the realm of speculation and conjecture and transports it through the twilight zone and into the daylight of reasonable certainty. Id. ¶ 15. In Turner v. Crane, 115 Miss. 134, 75 So. 945 (1917), this Court reversed an award of damages to a landowner for a loss of a sale of parcel of land. We held that because the injured party was the only person to testify regarding damages and his testimony asserted that he could have sold the lot but was unable to do so because of the pending lawsuit. This proof alone was too remote and speculative upon which to base a recovery. In Mississippi Power Co. v. Harrison, 247 Miss. 400, 429, 152 So.2d 892, 906 (1963), we reversed an award of damages because the jury had no estimate as to the value of the property involved before and after the loss other than the estimate of a contractor who based his information solely upon facts gleaned from conversations with the party seeking recovery. In sum, we will not allow the only basis for an award of damages to be the injured party's estimate of the extent to which he was injured. It is too speculative and amounts to reversible error. ¶ 16. This Court has recognized many different approaches to establishing value including, but not limited to use of comparative sales, costs, income streams, and a combination of these and various other methods. Swilley, 562 So.2d at 1257. Any of these methods would be preferred here over Wells's testimony that he could have rented all of the available space at a certain amount per month for the entire duration of the lease, essentially earning $139,000. Craft testified that they encountered problems renting several spaces at a lower rate than Wells testified he would charge. This is insufficient proof to support an award of $139,000.