Miller v Mariani

[*1] Miller v Mariani 2005 NYSlipOp 50779(U) Decided on May 23, 2005 Appellate Term, Second Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.

Decided on May 23, 2005
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
APPELLATE TERM: 9th and 10th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
PRESENT: May 23, 2005 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK APPELLATE TERM : 9th and 10th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS PRESENT : RUDOLPH, P.J., McCABE and TANENBAUM, JJ.
2004-1151 S C

VIRGINIA MILLER, Respondent,

against

FRANK MARIANI MARIANI A PLUS PAINTING INC., Appellants.

Appeal by defendants from a small claims judgment of the District Court, Suffolk County (G. Murphy, J.), entered November 13, 2003, awarding plaintiff the principal sum of $1,120.

Judgment unanimously affirmed without costs.

In this small claims action seeking to recover monies for property damage, plaintiff alleges that defendants damaged her property while painting the inside of her house. Inasmuch as the determination of the court below clearly could have been reached under a fair interpretation of the evidence, its determination will not be disturbed on appeal (see Perez v Garcia, 304 AD2d 544 [2003]; Jones v Hart, 233 AD2d 297 [1997]). Substantial justice has been done between the parties according to the rules and principles of substantive law (see UDCA 1804, 1807).

We note that, for the first time on appeal, defendants allege that plaintiff improperly split causes of action. While it is well settled that there is a prohibition against splitting a single claim into multiple legal actions (see Craig-Oriol v Mount Sinai Hosp. 201 AD2d 449 [1994]), defendants never established in the court below that plaintiff split causes of action.
Decision Date: May 23, 2005