LOTT v. CITY OF DAPHNE

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Docket Number

1920757.

Attorney(S)

Marc E. Bradley, Mobile, for appellant. W. Beatty Pearson of Dempsey, Pearson Cummins, Spanish Fort, and Richard C. Lacey, Fairhope, for appellee.

Judges

HOUSTON, Justice.

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Smart Summary

Factual and Procedural Background

This case is the second appeal involving Wade D. Lott and the City of Daphne. In the first appeal, the Supreme Court of Alabama reversed and remanded for a jury trial regarding damages caused by the City's storm drainage system. The jury awarded Lott $7,500 for damage to his property, which the City paid. Lott accepted this payment but reserved his right to seek an injunction requiring the City to properly maintain Mazie's Gulch, part of the storm drainage system. The City moved to require full satisfaction of all claims, including equitable relief. Lott requested a hearing on his injunction claim, but no hearing was held. The trial court denied the injunction petition and dismissed the case with prejudice. Lott appealed the denial of the injunction.

Legal Issues Presented

Whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying Wade D. Lott's petition for a permanent injunction against the City of Daphne regarding maintenance of Mazie's Gulch.

Arguments of the Parties

The opinion does not contain a detailed account of the parties' legal arguments.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent	Rule or Principle Cited For	Application by the Court
Hood v. Neil, 502 So.2d 749 (Ala. 1987)	Trial court's broad discretion in granting or denying injunctions.	Supported the principle that injunctions are not a matter of right and that the trial court has broad discretion.
Alabama Power Co. v. Drummond, 559 So.2d 158 (Ala. 1990)	Standard for establishing abuse of discretion in injunctive relief decisions.	Guided the court’s review standard requiring clear or palpable error to find abuse of discretion.
Lott v. City of Daphne, 539 So.2d 241 (Ala. 1989)	Factual background and procedural history of the case.	Referenced to provide context and prior rulings relevant to the current appeal.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The court recognized that injunctions are generally granted at the trial court’s discretion and that such discretion is broad. To overturn the denial of an injunction, an appellant must demonstrate a clear or palpable abuse of that discretion. Upon review, the record did not show that the trial court erred in denying Lott’s petition for injunctive relief. The court therefore found no basis to reverse the trial court’s decision.

Holding and Implications

AFFIRMED.

The trial court’s denial of the permanent injunction against the City of Daphne was upheld. The decision concludes the case with respect to the equitable relief sought by Lott. No new precedent was established, and the ruling directly affects only the parties by denying injunctive relief and dismissing the case with prejudice.

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Wade D. LOTT v. The CITY OF DAPHNE.

HOUSTON, Justice.

This is the second appeal in this case. In the first appeal, Lott v. City of Daphne, 539 So.2d 241 (Ala. 1989), which more than adequately sets forth the pertinent facts of this case, the Court reversed and remanded for a jury trial. The jury returned a $7,500 verdict for Wade D. Lott against the City of Daphne for damage to Lott's property caused by the City's storm drainage system. Lott did not appeal; the City paid the $7,500 into the court, and Lott accepted it in satisfaction of the judgment entered on his claim for monetary damages. However, Lott limited the satisfaction of the judgment against him solely to his claim for monetary damages by wording the satisfaction so as to reserve his right to prosecute his claim seeking an injunction directing the City to properly maintain Mazie's Gulch as a part of its storm drainage system. The City moved the trial court to require Lott to fully satisfy his claims for monetary damages and for equitable relief. Thereafter, Lott requested a hearing on his equitable claim, seeking relief against the City "with respect to the [City's] negligent maintenance of Mazie's Gulch as a part of the [City's] storm water drainage system." No hearing was held. Thereafter, the trial court denied Lott's petition for a permanent injunction against the City; and, after having found that all of the claims had been disposed of, the trial court dismissed the case with prejudice. Lott appeals from the order denying the injunction. We affirm.

Injunctions are rarely a matter of right, and when an injunction is sought, the trial court is vested with broad discretion. See Hood v. Neil, 502 So.2d 749 (Ala. 1987). To establish an abuse of discretion in the trial court's denying or granting injunctive relief, it must be shown that the trial court committed a clear or palpable error. See Alabama Power Co. v. Drummond, 559 So.2d 158 (Ala. 1990).

Suffice it to say, without further discussion, that the record does not show that the trial court abused its discretion or was palpably wrong in denying Lott injunctive relief.

AFFIRMED.

HORNSBY, C.J., and MADDOX and KENNEDY, JJ., concur.

SHORES, J., concurs in the result.