James Clark, III v. Frank Woodward d/b/a Yankee Precision Engineering & a.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

SUPREME COURT

In Case No. 2017-0189, James Clark, III v. Frank Woodward
d/b/a Yankee Precision Engineering & a., the court on October
27, 2017, issued the following order:

Having considered the parties’ briefs and the record submitted on appeal,
we conclude that oral argument is unnecessary in this case. See Sup. Ct. R.
18(1). The plaintiff, James Clark, III, appeals the entry by the Circuit Court
(Boyle, J.) of judgment for defendant LS Tractor USA, LLC (LS Tractor), on his
small claim action for negligence. We affirm.

In his negligence action, the plaintiff alleged that LS Tractor was
negligent for failing “to install the proper oil pressure switch which would have
prevented the engine failure.” The trial court ruled in favor of LS Tractor after
finding that the plaintiff negligently failed to change the oil in his tractor
properly and that his negligence caused the tractor’s engine to fail. We
interpret the plaintiff’s appellate argument to be that the evidence was
insufficient to support the trial court’s determination.

We review sufficiency of the evidence claims as a matter of law and
uphold the findings and rulings of the trial court unless they lack evidentiary
support or are tainted by error of law. Guyotte v. O’Neill, 157 N.H. 616, 623
(2008). We accord considerable weight to the trial court’s judgments on the
credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given testimony. Id. We conclude
that the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to LS Tractor, see
id., was sufficient to support the trial court’s determination.

Affirmed.

Dalianis, C.J., and Hicks, Lynn, Bassett, and Hantz Marconi, JJ.,
concurred.

Eileen Fox,
Clerk