Court Opinion

ID: 7825198
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-09-07 18:05:16.946991+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:30:50.456321
License: Public Domain

Tom Glaze, Justice. I dissent. The primary factual issue is whether A & B Dirt Movers sold or merely hauled dirt. In issue at trial were six exhibits each listing business transactions of A & B; the exhibits are set out in the majority opinion. The state now, on appeal and for the first time, concedes exhibits one and six reflect nontaxable transactions; however, it still maintains that exhibits two through five list events that are presumable sale-of-dirt transactions and are taxable. The chancellor, however, found the transactions on all six exhibits involved A & B hauling services and not sale transactions. The majority court reverses the chancellor, and in doing so, finds that the testimony and explanation of these various exhibits and transactions by Mr. Jerry Nabholz, President of A & B, were “insufficient, standing alone, to meet A & B’s burden to refute the reasonableness of the state’s assessment.” In short, the majority simply disbelieves Mr. Nabholz’s explanation of exhibits two through five and his version that the transactions reflected on them did not involve the sale of dirt. In reaching such a conclusion, the majority court departs from the established rule that, while the supreme court reviews chancery court cases de novo, it recognizes the superior position of the chancellor to weigh issues of credibility and therefore does not reverse unless the chancellor’s findings are clearly erroneous. McElroy v. Grisham, 306 Ark. 4, 810 S.W.2d 933 (1991). Mr. Nabholz testified that he had unneeded dirt he gave away so he could build on his land, and other witnesses, testifying on A & B’s behalf, related similar narratives. In these situations, A & B merely charged for hauling free dirt to customer destinations. If believed, such testimony clearly refutes any idea that consideration was paid for the dirt hauled to the customers listed in the four exhibits still in dispute. This court is in no position to second guess the chancellor on what are strictly factual and credibility issues. The evidence or explanations surrounding exhibits one and six were apparently accepted by the state since the state now concedes transactions listed on them are nontaxable. The chancellor found the remaining four exhibits and related testimony worthy of belief, and this court has no basis to hold otherwise. I would affirm the chancellor’s findings.