Date: 02-17-2011

Case Style: Basile Tzovolos v. Scott Wiseman

Case Number: SC 18569

Judge: Per Curiam

Court: Supreme Court of Connecticut

Plaintiff's Attorney: Daniel Shepro, for the appellants-appellees (defendant Jason Robert’s, Inc., et al. in the first action and plaintiff in the second action).

Defendant's Attorney: Richard W. Callahan, for the appellees-cross appellants (plaintiffs in the first action).

Description: This appeal arises from two cases involving a complex commercial dispute over the ownership of and security interests in certain restaurant equipment. In the first action, which was brought in the judicial district of New Haven, the plaintiffs, Basile Tzovolos and Olympia Tzovolos, alleged that the defendants Scott Wiseman and Seawind, LLC (Seawind),1 had breached a purchase and sale agreement for the equipment. The plaintiffs alleged, among other things, that: Wiseman and Seawind had failed to make payments for the equipment; Wiseman had breached a promissory note related to the sale of the equipment; Wiseman and Seawind had been unjustly enriched; the defendants Robert D. Hartmann, Sr. (Hartmann, Sr.), Robert D. Hartmann, Jr. (Hartmann, Jr.), Jason R. Hartmann (Jason Hartmann), Jason Robert’s Concrete, LLC (Jason Robert’s Concrete), and Wiseman had converted the equipment; Hartmann, Sr., Hartmann, Jr., Jason Hartmann, Jason Robert’s Concrete and Jason Robert’s, Inc. (Jason Robert’s),2 had engaged in a fraudulent transfer of the equipment and had violated the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), General Statutes § 42-110a et seq.; Jason Robert’s and the defendant Alpert Realty, LLC (Alpert Realty)3 unlawfully had taken possession of the equipment and had violated CUTPA; and the Hartmann defendants and Alpert Realty had tortiously interfered with the plaintiffs’ contractual relations and had been unjustly enriched. In the second action, which was brought in the judicial district of Ansonia-Milford at Milford, the plaintiff, Jason Robert’s, alleged that it had a security interest in the equipment, which was located on the premises of the defendant, Alpert Realty, and that Alpert Realty had wrongfully refused to allow Jason Robert’s to have access to the equipment and to remove it from the premises. The trial court in the second action, sua sponte, transferred the action to the judicial district of New Haven and the trial court in the first action consolidated the two cases for trial.

Thereafter, Alpert Realty filed a cross complaint in the first action against Hartmann, Sr., Hartmann, Jr., Jason Hartmann and Jason Robert’s, in which it alleged that they had breached an agreement to indemnify Alpert Realty for any claims arising out of their use of the premises where the equipment had been stored.4

The Hartmann defendants then filed a special defense to the cross complaint, in which they alleged that Alpert Realty had permitted others to have access to the premises where the equipment had been stored, and a counterclaim to the cross complaint in which they alleged that they had been damaged as a result of Alpert Realty’s misrepresentations, that Alpert Realty had converted the equipment and that Alpert Realty’s conduct was wilful and wanton. The Hartmann defendants also filed a special defense against the plaintiffs’ claims in which they alleged that Jason Robert’s Concrete had a prior security interest in the equipment.5

After a trial to the court,6 the trial court rendered judgment in the first action for the plaintiffs,7 for Alpert Realty on its cross claim against the Hartmann defendants, 8 and against the Hartmann defendants on their counterclaims against Alpert Realty. The court rendered judgment in the second action against Jason Robert’s. The trial court subsequently granted in part the motion of the plaintiffs in the first action for a special finding pursuant to General Statutes § 52-226a,9 that Jason Robert’s Concrete, Hartmann, Sr., Hartmann, Jr., and Jason Hartmann had raised their defenses to the plaintiffs’ conversion claim and their counterclaim for conversion without a good faith basis and for the purpose of harassment and delay.10

This appeal followed.11 The Hartmann defendants claim on appeal that the trial court improperly: denied their request for a jury trial; required the parties to try the case when the pleadings were not closed; refused to allow the Hartmann defendants to amend their pleadings to conform to the proof presented at trial; found that the plaintiffs held a security interest in the equipment; permitted the plaintiffs’ witnesses to testify as to the value of the equipment; found that the plaintiffs had proved their claim of conversion; found that the Hartmann defendants had fraudulently conveyed the equipment; found that the Hartmann defendants had violated CUTPA; found that Hartmann, Sr., Hartmann, Jr., and Jason Hartmann were personally liable for the debts of the corporate defendants—Seawind, Jason Robert’s Concrete and Jason Robert’s; found that the Hartmann defendants had tortiously interfered with the plaintiffs’ contractual relations with Wiseman and Seawind; and rendered a special finding against Jason Robert’s Concrete, Hartmann, Sr., Hartmann, Jr., and Jason Hartmann pursuant to § 52-226a.12

After examining the record and the briefs and considering the arguments of the parties, we are persuaded that the judgment rendered in each case should be affirmed. The issues raised by the Hartmann defendants were resolved properly in the thoughtful and comprehensive memorandum of decision filed by the trial court. Because that memorandum of decision also fully addresses the arguments raised in the present appeal, we adopt the trial court’s well reasoned decision as a statement of the facts and the applicable law on those issues. It would serve no useful purpose for us to repeat that discussion here. See, e.g., Socha v. Bordeau, 289 Conn. 358, 362, 956 A.2d 1174 (2008); Lord Family of Windsor, LLC v. Inland Wetlands&Watercourses Commission, 288 Conn. 669, 673, 954 A.2d 133 (2008).

* * *

See: http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR300/300CR17.pdf

Outcome: The judgments are affirmed.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: