John Zambetti v. Cheeley Investments, L. P. , 343 Ga. App. 637 ( 2017 )


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  •                                 FIFTH DIVISION
    MCFADDEN, P. J.,
    BRANCH and BETHEL, JJ.
    NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be
    physically received in our clerk’s office within ten
    days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed.
    http://www.gaappeals.us/rules
    October 31, 2017
    In the Court of Appeals of Georgia
    A17A1052. ZAMBETTI v. CHEELEY INVESTMENTS, L.P., et al.
    BRANCH, Judge.
    In an earlier appearance of this case in this Court, we reversed the grant of
    summary judgment in favor of John Zambetti in this suit concerning an oral
    agreement by Zambetti to pay the attorney fees of his legal adversaries. See Cheeley
    Investments, L.P. v. Zambetti, 
    332 Ga. App. 115
     (770 SE2d 350) (2015). Following
    the remittitur, the case was tried, and a jury returned a verdict in favor of Cheeley
    Investments, L.P. and others. Zambetti appeals and argues that the trial court erred by
    failing to instruct the jury on three legal concepts, including the Statute of Frauds. He
    also contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion for a directed verdict.
    For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
    On appeal from the denial of a motion for a directed verdict or for
    j.n.o.v., we construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the party
    opposing the motion, and the standard of review is whether there is any
    evidence to support the jury’s verdict.
    Park v. Nichols, 
    307 Ga. App. 841
    , 845 (2) (706 SE2d 698) (2011) (citation and
    punctuation omitted).
    The evidence presented at trial was similar to the evidence outlined in the
    earlier appeal. In 2008, JR Real Estate Development, LLC (“JRD”) negotiated and
    entered into a “Land Purchase and Sale Agreement” to buy a tract of land in Gwinnett
    County from Cheeley Investments, L.P. and others.1 The agreement included a
    requirement that JRD provide $900,000 in earnest money (nonrefundable upon the
    default of the buyer) to secure a right to buy the property as well as to protect Cheeley
    Investments given that JRD was asking Cheeley Investments to give up the
    multifamily zoning that was on the property at the time, which had value, and to
    allow JRD to rezone the property as commercial. Zambetti negotiated and executed
    the agreement on behalf of JRD, and Robert Cheeley negotiated and executed the
    agreement on behalf of Cheeley Investments.
    1
    For the purpose of this appeal, “Cheeley Investments” shall refer to Cheeley
    Investments, L.P., Edward Breedlove, and SMC Properties, L.P.
    2
    On November 14, 2008, the final extended closing date, JRD failed to close.
    Cheeley Investments continued efforts with JRD to close thereafter, but on December
    4, 2008, JRD filed suit against Cheeley Investments in Gwinnett County, seeking,
    among other things, specific performance of the agreement, a declaratory judgment
    stating that Cheeley Investments was not entitled to the escrow funds, and
    interpleader of the escrow funds. That same day, Cheeley called Zambetti to ask why
    he had filed the lawsuit. During the call, Zambetti told Cheeley that the lawsuit was
    designed to “buy [JRD] some time,” and, Zambetti added, he “would pay [Cheeley
    Investments’] attorneys’ fees and costs.” Zambetti said, “you and Ed Breedlove have
    been honorable men, you haven’t done anything wrong. And my attorneys told me I
    needed to do this in order to buy me some time.” Zambetti asked Cheeley to “be
    patient and . . . we would get the thing closed.” Cheeley accepted Zambetti’s
    proposal. Later that day, Cheeley relayed the substance of the conversation to a
    colleague in an email: “[Zambetti] apologized for the lawsuit and said he would cover
    our $.” On December 19, 2008, Zambetti reiterated the promise in the presence of
    witnesses including Edward Breedlove, whose wife was a partial owner of the
    property. According to Breedlove, Zambetti said “I’ll pay you, I’ll pay your expenses,
    3
    attorneys’ fees, whatever.” Zambetti also boasted that he could get a “suitcase full of
    cash” to close the deal, which reassured Cheeley that Zambetti still intended to close.
    Cheeley testified that because of Zambetti’s promise to pay Cheeley
    Investments’ attorney fees, he was willing to continue to negotiate with JRD for the
    sale of the property despite the lawsuit. Negotiations between Cheeley Investments
    and JRD continued thereafter. At the same time, Cheeley Investments continued to
    incur legal fees defending the declaratory judgment action filed by JRD. Ultimately,
    however, JRD never closed on the land sale agreement. And on February 4, 2009, in
    the Gwinnett action, Cheeley Investments filed an answer, a counterclaim against
    JRD for attorney fees and expenses arising from the land sale agreement, and a third-
    party complaint against Zambetti, personally, for attorney fees and expenses based
    on the oral promise. On June 4, 2009, however, the Gwinnett court dismissed Cheeley
    Investments’ attempt to add Zambetti as a third party defendant.
    Over three years passed until, on November 14, 2012, Cheeley Investments
    filed the present suit against Zambetti in Forsyth County Superior Court for breach
    of contract and promissory estoppel.2 At about the same time, the Gwinnett County
    2
    As we noted in the earlier appeal of this case, Cheeley Investments’ claims
    against Zambetti in the present action are not barred by the doctrines of res judicata
    and collateral estoppel arising from Cheeley Investments’ unsuccessful attempt to
    bring a third party claim against Zambetti in the Gwinnett action. See Cheeley
    Investments, 332 Ga. App. at 120-121 (3).
    4
    action went to trial, and a jury returned a verdict in favor of Cheeley Investments and
    against JRD that included awarding Cheeley Investments the $900,000 in escrow
    funds as well as $334,198.21 in attorney fees and expenses for bad faith, stubborn
    litigiousness, or causing unnecessary trouble and expense; as of the time of trial in the
    present action, JRD had not paid those fees and expenses to Cheeley Investments.
    Later, in the present suit in Forsyth County, the trial court granted Zambetti’s motions
    for summary judgment, which this Court reversed in Cheeley Investments v. Zambetti,
    
    332 Ga. App. 115
    . The Forsyth action eventually went to trial, the trial court denied
    Zambetti’s motion for a directed verdict, and the jury agreed that Zambetti personally
    had entered into an oral contract and breached it and that he was liable in promissory
    estoppel as well, based on the same promise. The jury awarded Cheeley Investments
    all of the attorney fees and expenses it incurred in the Gwinnett County action, as
    well as an additional award of $170,753.11 in expenses of litigation under OCGA §
    13-6-11,3 for a total of $522,294.96.4
    3
    OCGA § 13-6-11 provides: “The expenses of litigation generally shall not be
    allowed as a part of the damages; but where the plaintiff has specially pleaded and has
    made prayer therefor and where the defendant has acted in bad faith, has been
    stubbornly litigious, or has caused the plaintiff unnecessary trouble and expense, the
    jury may allow them.”
    4
    Thus, the facts of this case involve two attorney fee awards: the fees assessed
    against JRD in the Gwinnett action and the fees assessed against Zambetti in the
    Forsyth action.
    5
    1. Zambetti contends the trial court erred by failing to charge the jury (1) that
    an oral promise to answer for the debt or default of another must be in writing, i.e.,
    a Statute of Frauds defense; (2) that a corporation is a separate legal entity that
    insulates its representatives from personal liability; and (3) that promissory estoppel
    requires evidence of “forbearance as consideration,” reasonable reliance, and due
    diligence. Cheeley Investments counters that court’s charge was proper and that the
    charges about which Zambetti complains either were inapplicable to the case
    presented to the jury, were waived, were precluded by the law of the case from the
    earlier opinion in Cheeley Investments v. Zambetti, or were not adjusted to the facts
    presented at trial.
    “A trial court has a duty to charge the jury on the law applicable to issues
    which are supported by the evidence. If there is even slight evidence on a specific
    issue, it is not error for the court to charge the jury on the law related to that issue.”
    Jones v. Sperau, 
    275 Ga. 213
    , 214 (2) (563 SE2d 863) (2002). “Whether the evidence
    presented is sufficient to authorize the giving of a charge is a question of law.” Davis
    v. State, 
    269 Ga. 276
    , 279 (3) (496 SE2d 699) (1998). We therefore review the issue
    de novo. See Jordan v. State, 
    322 Ga. App. 252
    , 256 (4) (a) (744 SE2d 447) (2013).
    6
    (a) Zambetti contends the trial court should have charged the jury that an oral
    promise to answer for the debt or default of another must be in writing. Zambetti did
    not file a written request for such a charge but it came up in colloquy with the court.
    Zambetti had requested a charge on the concept of an “original undertaking
    agreement” because Cheeley Investments had averred that Zambetti’s promise was
    “an original undertaking in which [he was] furthering his own interest rather than
    underwriting the debt of another.”5 Following the close of the evidence, the court
    refused to give the proposed charge on an original undertaking on the ground that it
    was not adjusted to the facts of the case.6
    5
    Cheeley Investments may have anticipated a potential problem with the Statute
    of Frauds because an original undertaking supported by new consideration is “legal
    and enforceable whether in writing or parol.” Holcombe v. Parker, 
    99 Ga. App. 616
    ,
    620 (109 SE2d 348) (1959).
    6
    The proposed charge correctly stated that in order to have an “original
    undertaking agreement,” “a new promisor must substitute himself as the primary party
    to perform.” Thus, “the creditor must be looking primarily to the new promisor for
    complete payment, rather than looking primarily to the original debtor.” See Litland
    v. Smith, 
    247 Ga. App. 277
    , 278 (2) (543 SE2d 468) (2000) (“In order for a promise
    to be considered an original undertaking, the new promisor, for valuable
    consideration, must substitute himself as the party who is to perform, and the original
    promisor must be released.”) (citation omitted). But this charge did not fit the facts
    of the case in part because the evidence showed that at the time of trial in the Forsyth
    action, Cheeley Investments had fully paid all of the attorney fees from the Gwinnett
    action and because there was no evidence that Zambetti substituted himself as the
    party required to pay fees owing to Cheeley Investments’ attorneys. Thus, there was
    no evidence of an original undertaking as defined in Zambetti’s proposed charge.
    Zambetti has not appealed the trial court’s refusal to give that charge.
    7
    Zambetti countered that without a charge on original undertaking, he should
    be able to argue the Statute of Frauds to the jury, that is, he should be able to argue
    that the agreement to pay attorney fees was in fact a guarantee by Zambetti to pay
    Cheeley Investments’ attorney fees, and that such a promise must be in writing under
    the Statute of Frauds as a promise to pay the debt of another. See OCGA § 13-5-30
    (2) (“A promise to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another” must be in
    writing). Cheeley Investments noted that Zambetti did not include this defense in the
    consolidated pretrial order. And the court disagreed with Zambetti’s contention that
    he had implicitly raised the defense in the pretrial order and ruled: “If you have not
    raised it in your pretrial, you would be precluded.” We find no reversible error.
    “It is the duty of the court, whether requested or not, to give the jury
    appropriate instructions on every substantial and vital issue presented by the
    evidence, and on every theory of the case.” Robinson v. State, 
    278 Ga. 836
    , 838 (5)
    n. 7 (607 SE2d 559) (2005), quoting Davis & Shulman, Georgia Practice &
    Procedure, § 21-3. Nevertheless, “[a] party in a civil case generally must present
    written requests for jury instructions and complain of the giving or failure to give an
    instruction before the jury returns its verdict in order to preserve the issue for appeal.
    OCGA § 5-5-24 (a), (b).” Pearson v. Tippmann Pneumatics, 
    281 Ga. 740
    , 742 (1)
    8
    (642 SE2d 691) (2007). Here, while he made an oral, non-specific request, Zambetti
    did not offer a written charge on the Statute of Frauds adjusted to the facts of the case
    such that the court did not err in refusing the charge. See Kersey v. Williamson, 
    284 Ga. 660
    , 663 (4) (670 SE2d 405) (2008) (“It was not error to refuse the oral request
    to charge.”) (citation omitted); Jones, Martin, Parris & Tessener Law Offices v.
    Westrex Corp., 
    310 Ga. App. 192
    , 198 (3) (b) (712 SE2d 603) (2011) (“Without
    knowing the precise charge requested, we cannot review the trial court’s denial of that
    request.”); Colbert v. State, 
    263 Ga. App. 193
    , 194 (2) (587 SE2d 300) (2003)
    (“Absent a written request, it is not error for the trial court to fail to give an
    instruction.”) (footnote omitted).
    Second, Zambetti did not include the defense of Statute of Frauds in the pretrial
    order and did not move to modify the pretrial order. “The Civil Practice Act provides
    that once entered, the pretrial order ‘controls the subsequent course of the action
    unless modified at the trial to prevent manifest injustice.’” Ga. Dept. of Human
    Resources v. Phillips, 
    268 Ga. 316
    , 318 (1) (486 SE2d 851) (1997), quoting OCGA
    § 9-11-16 (b)). “If a claim or issue is omitted from the order, it is waived.” Long v.
    Marion, 
    257 Ga. 431
    , 433-434 (2) (360 SE2d 255) (1987) (citation and punctuation
    omitted). And we agree with the trial court that Zambetti did not raise the defense of
    9
    the Statute of Frauds simply by stating that he intended to rely on “[a]ll applicable
    statutes governing contracts in the State of Georgia” and [a]ll applicable legal
    principles and rules of contract law, quasi-contracts, and equitable remedies and
    relief.”
    Third, although OCGA § 9-11-15 (b) provides that at trial the pleadings are
    deemed automatically amended to conform to the evidence, Zambetti has cited no
    evidence presented at trial that required a charge on the Statute of Frauds. Arguments
    of counsel are not evidence and are insufficient to modify a pretrial order
    automatically. See Phillips, 268 Ga. at 319 (1) (“comments made [to the jury] during
    voir dire, opening statements, and closing arguments . . . standing alone and
    unobjected to, cannot render a pretrial order automatically modified”). Further,
    Zambetti has not pointed to any evidence to show that the promise to pay the attorney
    fees was a promise to answer for the debt of another; that is, there is no evidence that
    Zambetti promised to underwrite or guarantee Cheeley Investments’ debt to those
    attorneys. See OCGA § 13-5-30 (2); Bennett Oil Co. v. Harrell, 
    143 Ga. App. 268
    ,
    268 (238 SE2d 267) (1977) (“a classic ‘personal guarantee’ case” that must be in
    writing is where one party promised the original creditor that he would pay the debt
    of the original debtor if that debtor failed to pay; thus, a writing was required where
    10
    the third party, although not primarily liable to the creditor on an original
    undertaking, orally promised to pay the debtor if the debtor failed to pay the creditor).
    Rather, Zambetti’s promise to Cheeley Investments was one of indemnity,7 and
    “[c]ontracts of indemnity generally fall outside the Statute of Frauds.” Progressive
    Elec. Svcs. v. Task Force Constr., 
    327 Ga. App. 608
    , 613 (1) (760 SE2d 621) (2014),
    citing Copeland v. Beville, 
    93 Ga. App. 442
    , 443(1), 92 SE2d 54 (1956).
    Finally, we find no substantial error that was harmful as a matter of law. See
    Brown v. Tucker, 
    337 Ga. App. 704
    , 714 (4) (788 SE2d 810) (2016) (“Absent a
    written request to charge, we review the propriety of the trial court’s instructions to
    determine whether the court made a substantial error that was harmful as a matter of
    law. OCGA § 5-5-24 (c).”).
    A charge “harmful as a matter of law” is one that is blatantly apparent
    and prejudicial to the extent that it raises the question of whether the
    losing party has, to some extent at least, been deprived of a fair trial
    because of it, or a gross injustice is about to result or has resulted
    directly attributable to the alleged errors.
    7
    “[I]n a contract of indemnity the indemnitor, for a consideration, promises to
    indemnify and save harmless the indemnitee against liability of the indemnitee to a
    third person, or against loss resulting from such liability.” Thomasson v. Pineco, 
    173 Ga. App. 794
    , 794 (328 SE2d 410) (1985) (citations and punctuation omitted).
    11
    Shilliday v. Dunaway, 
    220 Ga. App. 406
    , 411 (8) (469 SE2d 485) (1996) (citations
    and punctuation omitted); Smith v. Norfolk Southern R. Co., 
    337 Ga. App. 604
    , 612
    (2) (788 SE2d 508) (2016). Here, the court charged the jury on the fundamentals of
    contract formation, which gave the jury a basis to evaluate the case. “If the charge as
    a whole substantially covered the issues to be decided by the jury, we will not disturb
    a verdict supported by the evidence simply because the charge could have been
    clearer or more precise.” Lee v. Swain, 
    291 Ga. 799
    , 800 (2) (a) (733 SE2d 726)
    (2012) (citation omitted).
    The case of Hathaway v. Bishop, 
    214 Ga. App. 870
     (449 SE2d 318) (1994),
    upon which Zambetti relies, in which we reversed a trial court’s decision not to give
    a charge on the Statute of Frauds, is distinguishable. In Hathaway, the original
    creditor testified that defendant Hathaway had orally guaranteed the lease payments
    owed by the tenant. Id. at 871-872 (2). In the present case there is no evidence that
    Zambetti guaranteed attorney fee payments owed by Cheeley Investments.
    In sum, we can find no reversible error by the trial court in not charging the
    jury on the Statute of Frauds.
    (b) Zambetti contends the trial court should have charged the jury that a
    corporation is a separate legal entity that insulates its representatives from personal
    12
    liability. He argues that the jury therefore erroneously was allowed to pierce the
    corporate veil and hold him personally liable rather than placing the obligation on
    JRD, the company he represented.
    But again, Zambetti did not file a proposed charge on corporations being a
    separate legal entity and did not ask for one during the charge conference. Nor did he
    raise an objection once the court read the jury charges; he only reiterated his earlier
    objections, which did not include any objections about the lack of a charge on the
    corporate form. See OCGA § 5-5-24 (a) (“in all civil cases, no party may complain
    of the giving or the failure to give an instruction to the jury unless he objects thereto
    before the jury returns its verdict, stating distinctly the matter to which he objects and
    the grounds of his objection”); cf. American Material Svcs. v. Giddens, 
    296 Ga. App. 643
    , 646 (2) (675 SE2d 540) (2009) (appellant waived theories of liability by failing
    to submit requests to charge on those theories). Accordingly, our review is limited to
    whether the trial court made a substantial error that was harmful as a matter of law.
    OCGA § 5-5-24 (c). We find no such error.
    The court’s charge to the jury on contract formation included the requirements
    of having parties with the capacity to contract who consent and agree to all terms of
    the contract. Also, Zambetti argued to the jury that if there was a promise, it came
    13
    from JRD, not Zambetti personally. There is nothing in the court’s charge to the jury
    that would have prevented the jury from agreeing with Zambetti and finding no
    personal liability. “Any charge which is not necessarily harmful to the complaining
    party is not such substantial error as to require reversal of the case, in the absence of
    a proper [objection] to the charge.” Moon v. Kimberly, 
    116 Ga. App. 74
    , 75 (2) (156
    SE2d 414) (1967). Accordingly, we find no substantial error that was harmful as a
    matter of law.
    (c) Zambetti contends that the trial court erred by failing to charge that
    promissory estoppel requires evidence of forbearance as consideration, reasonable
    reliance, and due diligence.
    Zambetti filed a proposed charge on promissory estoppel, and the court gave
    essentially the same charge.8 This charge included that promissory estoppel requires
    8
    The court charged on promissory estoppel, largely as requested by Zambetti,
    as follows:
    The plaintiffs have made a claim against Defendant Zambetti for
    promissory estoppel. Promissory estoppel is statutorily defined as a
    promise which the promisor should reasonably expect to induce action
    or forbearance on the part of the promisee or a third person and which
    does induce such action or forbearance is binding if injustice can be
    avoided only by enforcement of the promise. In order to hold a party
    liable for promissory estoppel, there must be evidence that the first party
    14
    proof that the “promisor should have reasonably expected its promise to induce action
    or forbearance on the part of the promisee.” Zambetti does not challenge this charge
    on appeal. Zambetti filed a separate proposed charge on “forbearance as
    consideration.”9 But his proposed charge on forbearance is written in terms of proving
    consideration for a contract, not in terms of promissory estoppel.10 Yet on appeal,
    Zambetti argues that the court should have charged on forbearance as consideration
    for purposes of promissory estoppel. Thus, he did not propose in the trial court the
    jury charge he raises on appeal. Finally, Zambetti did not file any proposed charges
    on reasonable reliance and due diligence as elements of promissory estoppel.
    Thus, again, Zambetti has waived appellate review of a separate jury charge on
    forbearance, reasonable reliance, and due diligence as elements of promissory
    made a promise; second, the party promisor should have reasonably
    expected its promise to induce action or forbearance on the part of the
    promisee; third, the promise did induce such action or forbearance by
    the promisee; and, fourth, and lastly, an injustice can only be avoided by
    the enforcement of the promise.
    9
    Zambetti objected to the court’s failure to charge his requested charge and
    preserved his objection following the court’s charge to the jury.
    10
    When he proposed the charge below, Zambetti explained, “This is not
    forbearance with respect to promissory estoppel. This is forbearance as
    consideration.”
    15
    estoppel. Moreover, as shown above, Zambetti proposed a charge on promissory
    estoppel that the trial court used. He may not complain now about language that he
    requested below. Moreover, the court charged the full definition of promissory
    estoppel found in the Georgia Code.11 Finally, the elements of forbearance,
    reasonable reliance, and diligence, in a general sense, are included in that language.
    That a promisee might reasonably rely on a promise and use diligence in so doing is
    a corollary to the idea that the promisor could reasonably expect the promisee to act
    or forbear. We therefore find no substantial error harmful as a matter of law in the
    trial court’s charge on promissory estoppel. Accordingly, for all the reasons given
    above, we find no reversible error by the trial court in not charging the jury on
    forbearance as consideration for promissory estoppel, and reasonable reliance and due
    diligence, as separate elements of promissory estoppel.
    2. Zambetti next contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion for
    directed verdict. He argues on appeal as he did in his motion for directed verdict that
    11
    See OCGA § 13-3-44 (a) (“A promise which the promisor should reasonably
    expect to induce action or forbearance on the part of the promisee or a third person
    and which does induce such action or forbearance is binding if injustice can be
    avoided only by enforcement of the promise. The remedy granted for breach may be
    limited as justice requires.”).
    16
    there was no evidence that his promise was an “original undertaking” as defined
    above and no evidence of any consideration to support his oral promise.
    “A directed verdict is authorized only when there is no conflict in the evidence
    on any material issue and the evidence introduced, with all reasonable deductions,
    demands a particular verdict.” H. J. Russell & Co. v. Jones, 
    250 Ga. App. 28
    -29 (550
    SE2d 450) (2001) (footnote omitted). We will affirm if there is any evidence to
    support the jury’s verdict. Park, 307 Ga. App. at 845 (2).
    (a) With regard to the concept of an original undertaking, as defined above,
    neither a claim for breach of contract nor for promissory estoppel requires a showing
    of an original undertaking; the concepts are unrelated. Although Cheeley Investments
    may have attempted to plead that they were operating under the “original
    undertaking” exception to the Statute of Frauds, Zambetti fails to acknowledge that
    the Statue of Frauds is an affirmative defense and that, therefore, even if he had
    properly raised the issue, Zambetti would have had the burden of proving that the
    alleged promise had to be in writing to be enforceable. See Hosp. Auth. of
    Valdosta/Lowndes County v. Fender, 
    342 Ga. App. 13
    , 18 (1) (a) (802 SE2d 346)
    (2017) (burden of proof for an affirmative defense falls on the defendants).
    17
    Accordingly, Zambetti’s argument that the plaintiffs failed to prove an original
    undertaking provides no grounds for reversing the judgment below.
    (b) With regard to consideration for purposes of the claim of breach of contract,
    this Court previously found that the evidence produced on summary judgment
    included some evidence of consideration for Zambetti’s promise to pay the attorney
    fees and expenses in that Cheeley Investments continued to negotiate with JRD
    despite the Gwinnett lawsuit:
    The record [ ] contains evidence that Zambetti promised to pay the
    litigation expenses including attorney fees incurred by Cheeley
    Investments in responding to the action. . . . In addition, there is
    evidence that, on behalf of Cheeley Investments, Robert Cheeley
    accepted Zambetti’s promise and that the promise accomplished
    Zambetti’s purpose in making it, that is, Cheeley Investments continued
    to negotiate the land deal despite JRD’s failure to close by the extended
    deadline. Thus, there is evidence from which a jury could find that
    Zambetti’s oral promise to pay Cheeley’s Investments’ legal expenses
    was supported by consideration.
    Cheeley Investments, 332 Ga. App. at 116-117 (1).
    Zambetti counters that the actual evidence presented at trial, including as a
    result of his cross-examination of Cheeley and Breedlove, was substantially different
    and that it showed that there was no true evidence Cheeley Investments continued to
    18
    negotiate or forbore from taking any other action in exchange for Zambetti’s promise.
    See Ballentine Motors of Ga. v. Nimmons, 
    93 Ga. App. 708
    , 709 (1) (92 SE2d 714)
    (1956) (if there is “no substantial difference in the evidence” at trial from that
    previously presented when this Court held that there was sufficient evidence to
    present a question for the jury, the former ruling becomes the law of the case). We
    disagree. Cheeley testified at trial that he relied on the promise by continuing to work
    with JRD to close the real estate transaction even though the lawsuit had been filed.
    Thus, the law of the case from the earlier appeal applies. See 
    id.
     Accordingly, the trial
    court did not err by denying Zambetti’s motion for a directed verdict on this ground.
    (c) Zambetti also argues that there was no evidence of forbearance by Cheeley
    Investments sufficient to sustain the jury’s verdict on promissory estoppel. But we
    need not address that issue. Georgia law allows plaintiffs to proceed on alternative
    theories of recovery, and given that we have affirmed the jury’s verdict and the
    judgment on the theory of breach of contract, the question of the sufficiency of the
    evidence for the alternative claim of promissory estoppel is moot. Campbell v. Ailion,
    
    338 Ga. App. 382
    , 388 (2) (790 SE2d 68) (2016).
    Judgment affirmed. McFadden, P. J., and Bethel, J., concur.
    19
    

Document Info

Docket Number: A17A1052

Citation Numbers: 808 S.E.2d 41, 343 Ga. App. 637

Judges: Branch

Filed Date: 10/31/2017

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 10/19/2024