Court Opinion

ID: 9561612
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:12:53.052388+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:14:02.030218
License: Public Domain

*633LACY, J., with whom CARRICO, C.J., and THOMAS, J., join,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
In awarding Lee damages of. $10,460 for wrongful removal of electrical fixtures, the majority focuses solely on the testimony regarding the amount of damages Lee should receive. The majority’s approach, however, assumes Lee was entitled to recover damages for each item described by his electrician witness. While supporting Bell’s liability for many items, the record in my opinion does not support recovery for the largest item — the 400 amp panel and associated conduit and wire — given a replacement value of $6,760. My review of the record indicates that the trial court disregarded the value of this panel because it was an item Mr. Bell was not required to replace pursuant to a prior order of the court.
Initially, 400 amp service entered the building through equipment mounted on the east wall. Subsequently, an addition was built and the electrical service was transferred to the west wall, where it is located today. In the interim, however, conduit was run from the west wall panel to another 400 amp panel on the east side of the building. This second panel providing 400 amp service was utilized for machinery used in the building. Bell removed this east side panel and severed the service lines to it. Lee’s witness testified that it would cost $6,760 to replace this east side panel. There was no dispute, however, that 400 amp service remained available in the building through the panel on the west side.
The March 19 order of the court provided: “Said personal property shall not include . . . the electric panel that provides electrical current to the premises, nor the electric furnace located in the locker room on the premises which is used for heating purposes.” At the September 26 hearing, held to determine the extent to which Bell had complied with the court’s earlier orders, the court interpreting its March order stated:
The evidence of even the Plaintiff as well as the Defendant is that there is 400 amp service in the building and that is all *634that I required was that there be there [sic] what Mr. Lee had before.
In other words, Bell did not violate the court’s order when he removed the 400 amp panel on the east wall, because 400 amp service was available to the building through the west wall panel. Therefore, Lee was not entitled to replacement of that item, regardless of the cost.
While testimony of Lee’s electrician regarding the replacement value of this item may be uncontradicted, that testimony cannot impose liability. The trial court certainly has the ability to interpret its own directive, and is not bound on the question of liability by one party’s uncontradicted testimony regarding the amount of damages.
I concur with the majority in affirming the denial of Lee’s claim for lost rent and in reversing the ruling setting damages at $4,460, which included only $1,000 for the removal of electrical items. Unlike the majority, however, I would enter final judgment of $7,190, which excludes the $6,760 relating to placement of the 400 amp electrical panel and conduit wires.