Trovato v Herring Sanitation Servs., Inc.

[*1] Trovato v Herring Sanitation Servs., Inc. 2005 NYSlipOp 51274(U) Decided on July 28, 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 This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.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 July 28, 2005
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
APPELLATE TERM: 9th and 10th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
PRESENT: RUDOLPH, P.J., ANGIOLILLO and TANENBAUM, JJ.
2004-1501 D C

Vincent T. Trovato, Appellant,

against

Herring Sanitation Services, Inc., Respondent.

Appeal by plaintiff from a small claims judgment of the Justice Court, Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County (H. Kitchen, J.), entered March 2, 2004, in favor of defendant dismissing the action

Judgment unanimously affirmed without costs.

Plaintiff commenced this small claims action to recover $3,000 for damage to his 1993 Nissan Sentra which he alleges was totaled during an accident with a vehicle owned by defendant. A review of the record on appeal indicates that the determination of the court below in favor of defendant dismissing the action could have been reached under a fair interpretation of the evidence (see e.g. Northern Westchester Professional Park Assoc. v Town of Bedford, 60 NY2d 492, 499 [1983]; Perez v Garcia, 304 AD2d
544 [2003]). In addition to the court's implicit finding in favor of defendant on the issue of liability, we note that, in any event, plaintiff failed to prove his damages inasmuch as he submitted no proof as to the value of the Nissan, and did not submit repair estimates showing that the cost of repair would be greater than the value of the car. Consequently, we find that substantial justice has been done between the parties according to the rules and principles of substantive law (see UJCA 1807).
Decision Date: July 28, 2005