Callaway v. Whittenton

Christopher and Joy Callaway (the Callaways) (plaintiffs) purchased a vehicle from Summerdale Budget Auto & Truck, Inc. (Budget). The Callaways executed a sales agreement that gave Budget and the Callaways’ financier the right to repossess the vehicle if the Callaways failed to make their payments. A few months after the purchase, in August 2000, the Callaways missed a payment, and Budget repossessed the vehicle without any problems. Alabama law permitted creditors to perform self-help repossessions, which occur without the need for judicial process. Christopher brought the payments current, and the vehicle was returned. However, the Callaways also missed the October 2000 payment. Budget sent the same contractor, Michael Whittenton (defendant), to repossess the vehicle the following month. This time, the repossession did not go smoothly. The parties disagreed about what occurred, and the Callaways filed a lawsuit against Whittenton, Budget, and their finance company. The Callaways testified that as Whittenton was repossessing the vehicle, Joy asked him to leave the property, and Christopher asked Whittenton to allow him to get some items out of the vehicle. However, Whittenton proceeded to drive away, and Christopher began running and banging on the truck. Christopher grabbed the roll bar on his vehicle, and when the vehicle hit a pothole, Christopher lost his balance, and his foot was run over by his vehicle. By Christopher’s account, he was dragged down his driveway and up to 100 feet down the highway. Either the tow truck or the Callaways’ vehicle ran over the Callaways’ cat. Whittenton and another witness testified that, on the contrary, after the vehicle was already hooked up and Whittenton was driving away, Christopher ran through a ditch and jumped onto his vehicle. The Callaways sued on a host of claims, for which a jury ruled in Whittenton’s favor. However, the Callaways’ claims for wrongful repossession and trespass did not go to the jury. Instead, the trial court ruled in Whittenton’s favor as a matter of law on those claims. The Callaways appealed.