Court Opinion

ID: 9624705
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:14:26.975661+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:53.163317
License: Public Domain

Evans, Judge,
dissenting. I cannot agree to the view the majority has taken of the evidence submitted in this case. The majority holds that there was no evidence as to what expense the defendant had paid to repair the unit and no evidence to enable the jury to. determine with any degree of certainty the extent of the failure of consideration. Then, the majority opinion concludes that defendant failed to sustain his plea of failure of consideration, and that the trial *209judge properly directed .a verdict for plaintiff.
The evidence here shows that the total price of the heating and air-conditioning equipment was $2,146 of which $1,073 had been paid, leaving a balance of $1,073. The defendant offered evidence sufficient to show that: (1) the air-conditioning unit never worked properly and never adequately cooled the building; (2) the "vents were hanging down”; (3) water leaked from the vents in the building; and (4) the air-conditioning unit is not working and has not worked for some time and that all of these matters were reported to the plaintiff and requests made for corrections.
While the defendant’s witness could not remember all the bills he had paid, he did testify as to one bill that was paid in the amount of $22.50 for repairs to the unit. Code § 20-310 requires that if the consideration be partial, an apportionment must be made according to the facts of each case, yet in this case one-half of the total contract had been paid and the suit is for the balance. The evidence here is sufficient to show a total failure of the remaining consideratic ' due, and I do not feel that we are bound by the decisions cited by the majority to the effect that the defendant in admitting a prima facie case must prove an amount allowable to him on account of the partial failure of consideration. The jury could have made a determination that there was a total failure of consideration and that nothing was owing; or considering the entire purchase price after payment of one-half the amount, they could have decided that any or all of the balance of $1,073 be written off due to the plaintiff’s violation of its implied warranty to put the equipment in correct working order. At the very least, the- defendant proved he paid $22.50 for repairs, and this was enough to make it erroneous for the • trial judge to direct a verdict against his plea of partial failure of consideration, even though he failed to testify as to the amounts of other repairs he had made. There was ample evidence for the jury to determine that there was a total failure of the consideration on which the plaintiff is now suing.
The essence of a motion for directed verdict is that there *210is no genuine issue of material fact to be resolved by the trior of the facts, and the movant is entitled to judgment on the law applicable to the established facts. All reasonable deductions and inferences from the evidence must support the verdict and in determining the question the evidence must be construed in its light most favorable to the party against whom it was directed. Whitaker v. Paden, 78 Ga. App. 145 (1) (50 SE2d 774); Curry v. Durden, 103 Ga. App. 371 (1) (118 SE2d 871); McCarty v. National Life &c. Ins. Co., 107 Ga. App. 178, 179 (129 SE2d 408).
Since the evidence here clearly made a question for determination by the jury as to whether the remaining amount is due on open account I would hold that the lower court erred in granting the motion for directed verdict.