The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday denied an Illinois man's second request for a hearing on his appeal of a Pulaski County circuit judge's contempt finding for selling a firetruck that he repossessed from the city of Alexander.
On Dec. 17, the appeals court dismissed Paul Anthony Graver's appeal of Circuit Judge Tim Fox's Jan. 27 contempt order, finding it moot. Judge David Glover noted that Fox had found Graver in contempt for selling the truck in November 2013 despite a court order that he return it to the city and refrain from selling it, but that Graver had "purged himself" of the contempt finding on the same day.
Fox ordered Graver of Winnetka, Ill., to be detained in jail until he deposited $54,000 into a court-controlled account and provided the city with a copy of the check used to buy the truck and a copy of the vehicle title. Graver complied with the conditions later the same day, as confirmed by a "speed letter" the circuit clerk sent to the jail saying that Graver was to be released immediately.
"When the terms of a contempt order have been fulfilled, the issue of the propriety of the contempt order is generally considered moot," the December appeals court opinion said. It determined that neither of two exceptions applied.
Graver later asked the court to reconsider dismissing his appeal, but his request was denied without comment on Wednesday.
Graver, doing business as First Government Lease Co., repossessed the truck Oct. 11, 2013, more than five years into a lease-purchase agreement through which the city was buying the 6-ton truck for $74,000. At the time, the city had a remaining balance of about $7,000. Graver later said he was entitled to repossess the truck because the city had given notice that it planned to stop making payments. He also acknowledged that the city was paid up through October 2014.
Fox determined last January that Graver's testimony about how he came to sell the truck for $54,000 to Mississippi-based Deep South Fire Trucks on Nov. 14, 2013, was "not credible in many instances." The sale occurred 10 days after Fox ruled orally that Graver had to give the truck back to the city, and one day before the judge entered a written order to that effect.
The appeals court's December order noted that the contempt order is the only trial-court action being challenged in the appeal, and that the underlying actions from which the appeal arose remain ongoing.
Metro on 01/22/2015