Vogel v. Catala

After Defendant failed to repay a loan Plaintiff made to him in the amount of $8,500, Plaintiff filed a complaint against Defendant alleging breach of contract and breach of an implied-in-fact contract. Plaintiff later amended his complaint to include a claim for failure to repay based on book account. After a jury, the trial justice ordered Defendant to pay damages to Plaintiff in the amount of $8,500. Defendant appealed, contending that the trial justice erred in finding that Plaintiff was a credible witness and in failing to find that the transaction was void because Plaintiff had allegedly advanced the money to Defendant with the knowledge that it would be used for gambling. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the Court had no choice but to uphold the lower court's findings because the Court was not provided with a transcript of the trial below and therefore was unable to properly engage in a review of the trial justice's factual findings. View "Vogel v. Catala" on Justia Law