Court Opinion

ID: 9846863
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:49:38.758818+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:56.226429
License: Public Domain

*185Collins, J.,
concurring in part; dissenting in part:
I agree with the rule of law announced by the court in its opinion.
I do not agree with the manner in which it is applied in this case. In other words, I do not believe we should sustain the NRCP 41(b) ruling granted in favor of Mori. Instead, we should reverse that ruling and remand the cause for either a full trial or at least a limited hearing on the question of damages under the rule of law announced in this decision.
There is evidence in the record to indicate that Kitchin breached his contract with Mori in failing to process his application for a gaming license to a formal determination. It appears to me that we could sustain the 41(b) ruling to that extent and remand for a limited hearing on damages only.
While the rule of law which allows recovery to a defaulting buyer upon his showing that payments made by him exceed the amount of the seller’s damages is not new (see Malmberg v. Baugh, 218 P. 975 (Utah 1923)), still in Nevada it becomes binding precedent for the first time by this decision. A reading of the record in this case clearly indicates that neither counsel nor the court considered the issues here with that rule in mind.
The 41(b) ruling of the trial court, as sustained in this decision, works a forfeiture of Kitchin’s $6,850 payments under the contract, and approves retention of both the property and the money by Mori. This harsh result should be avoided, especially when it is reached by a procedural ruling. I would prefer to see a full trial on the merits. It might well be Mori’s compensatory damages would either equal or exceed the $6,850 in dispute after evidence from both sides was taken under the rule here announced. Should that be ultimately the decision, at least our judicial conscience would be salved.
In granting a 41(b) motion the trial judge must accept plaintiff’s evidence as true, draw all permissible inferences in his favor and not pass upon the credibility of the witnesses nor weigh the evidence. Gordon v. Cal-Neva Lodge, Inc., 71 Nev. 336, 291 P.2d 1054 (1955); Schmidt v. Merriweather, 82 Nev. 372, 418 P.2d 991 (1966); Kline v. Robinson, 83 Nev. 244, 428 P.2d 190 (1967).
There is testimony in the record from Kitchin1 that he *186wanted Mori to give him back part of his money. He testified he offered to settle for $4,000 of the $6,850. The clear inference to be drawn from this testimony is that Kitchin intended that Mori have compensatory damages and he (Kitchin) estimated them to be $2,850. This is enough evidence on compensatory damages adduced by plaintiff in his case-in-chief, in my opinion, to survive a rule 41 (b) attack.
Thus the trial judge was obliged to consider the amount of compensatory damages, if any, due Mori resulting from Kitchin’s breach of the contract. This was not done because the effect of the lower court’s 41(b) rule is to approve either a forfeiture, punitive damages or arbitrarily determined compensatory damages.
There is authority for this handling of the matter. In Malmberg v. Baugh, 218 P. 975 (Utah 1923), at p. 981, the court said, “In view of the fact that all of the parties to the proceeding, including the court, seem to have proceeded upon a wrong theory as to the measure of damages, the court is of opinion that justice can only be done by reversing the judgment and remanding the cause for a new trial, with directions to the trial court to permit the parties, upon their request, to amend their pleadings, so that the case may be tried and determined in accordance with the view herein expressed. It is so ordered.” Also in Honey v. Henry’s Franchise Leasing Corp. of America, 415 P.2d 833 (Cal. 1966), at p. 836, Justice Traynor said, “In the present case, defendant repossessed some of the property before trial, and it is impossible to determine from the record whether the value of all of the property at the time of the trial was equal to its value at the time of the breach plus any consequential damages that may have been incurred. On retrial the burden will be on plaintiff to prove the excess, if any, of his payments over the amount necessary to give defendant the benefit of his bargain. [Citations.]
“No error appears except in the trial court’s determination of the issue of damages. Accordingly, the judgment is reversed *187with directions to retry the issue of damages only and to enter the appropriate judgment.”
Mowbray, J., concurs in the dissent.

 A. We went over to Mr. Mori’s bookkeeper, Mr. Sirano, I believe his name was, and sat down and discussed the financial condition of the business. Actually I wasn’t too concerned about it because the inventory was about $200 more when I came around the premises. It *186exceeded the original inventory. Repair work had been done around there and a few other things. Mr. Mori had his bookkeeper make up a list of things that he felt I owed him an additional six thousand or something like that. This was his reply. * * *
“A. I requested that he give me some money back. Q. Some money. Please be specific. A. I told him at first I would settle out for $4,000 cash, this is my words, and forget about the rest of it and Mr. Mori says, ‘Well, you have lost your money.’ I said, ‘Well, we’ll have to just take it to court and let the judge decide it.’ ”