Singh v Singh

[*1] Singh v Singh 2014 NY Slip Op 51327(U) Decided on August 20, 2014 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 This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.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 August 20, 2014
SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, SECOND DEPARTMENT, 2d, 11th and 13th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
PRESENT: : PESCE, P.J., ALIOTTA and SOLOMON, JJ.
2013-1119 Q C

Kirpal Singh, Appellant,

against

Ujjagar Singh and BHUPINDER KAUR, Respondents.

Appeal from a judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Queens County (Jodi Orlow, J.), entered March 26, 2013. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, dismissed the complaint.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, without costs.

In this action, plaintiff seeks to recover the principal sum of $15,000, the amount plaintiff claims he loaned to defendants. After a nonjury trial, the Civil Court, finding that the credibility of all of the witnesses was questionable, dismissed the complaint on the ground that plaintiff had failed to make out a prima facie case.

The decision of a fact-finding court should not be disturbed upon appeal unless it is obvious that the court's conclusions could not be reached under any fair interpretation of the evidence (see Claridge Gardens v Menotti, 160 AD2d 544 [1990]). Furthermore, the determination of a trier of fact as to issues of credibility is given substantial deference, as a trial court's opportunity to observe and evaluate the testimony and demeanor of the witnesses affords it a better perspective from which to assess their credibility (see Vizzari v State of New York, 184 AD2d 564 [1992]). Here, the Civil Court's determination, which was based entirely upon the lack of credibility of plaintiff and his witnesses, should not be disturbed on appeal.

Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed.

Pesce, P.J., Aliotta and Solomon, JJ., concur.

Decision Date: August 20, 2014