Aaron Dumm II v. Jim Brown, 336344

Background

AED Enterprises (a family junkyard) assets were held in a joint living trust; plaintiff (Aaron Dumm II) was the primary beneficiary. AED leased the Erie Street property from defendant Jim Brown.
After AED ceased operations, some personal property (antique vehicles, parts, equipment) was moved off and later returned to the Erie Street property by plaintiff’s father Fred; Fred and plaintiff later executed a binding mediation agreement dividing trust assets.
The mediation agreement awarded plaintiff “all other items except for those items in Fred’s possession”; certain items on the Erie Street property were not listed for Fred and thus were claimed by plaintiff under the agreement.
Plaintiff attempted to retrieve the awarded items from Brown but Brown refused access and moved items, allegedly exposing them to weather; plaintiff sued for conversion and sought treble damages under MCL 600.2919a, raising the case to circuit court.
Following a bench trial the court found Brown liable for statutory conversion, valued the converted items at $10,222, awarded treble damages of $30,666 plus costs and attorney fees; Brown appealed, challenging liability, damages, and the judge’s denial of disqualification.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Brown committed statutory conversion of items awarded to Dumm under the mediation agreement	Dumm: the mediation agreement unambiguously awarded him all items not in Fred’s possession; Brown denied access and moved/exposed the items, converting them to his use	Brown: ownership of items was unresolved in probate; items were abandoned or transferred to Brown as rent compensation or were placed on Brown’s property without his consent	Court: agreement unambiguous; items were plaintiff’s; Brown exercised dominion and denied access/moved items — statutory conversion proven
Whether the court’s valuation of converted items ($10,222) was supported	Dumm: introduced updated appraisal evidence based on R.J. Montgomery appraisal and updates	Brown: relied on attorney Smith’s testimony that appraisal list overstated value; argued plaintiff’s valuation unreliable	Court: credited plaintiff’s appraisal evidence over Smith; damages finding not clearly erroneous
Whether the trial judge should have been disqualified for alleged ex parte contact	Dumm: deposition question was at worst awkward; judge denied substantive ex parte communications; any contacts were administrative scheduling	Brown: counsel allegedly told judge liability already established; deposition question evidences ex parte communication and bias	Court: judge denied recollection of substantive ex parte communications; defendant failed to overcome heavy presumption of judicial impartiality; denial of disqualification not an abuse of discretion

Key Cases Cited

Commonwealth Land Title Ins. Co. v. Metro Title Corp., 315 Mich. App. 312 (construction of law reviewed de novo)
Trahey v. City of Inkster, 311 Mich. App. 582 (bench-trial factual findings reviewed for clear error)
Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Liquid Mfg., 499 Mich. 491 (contract interpretation principles)
Dep’t of Agriculture v. Appletree Mktg., LLC, 485 Mich. 1 (definition of common-law conversion)
Aroma Wines & Equip., Inc. v. Columbian Distrib. Servs., Inc., 497 Mich. 337 (statutory conversion requires conversion to defendant’s own use)
Klapp v. United Ins. Group Agency, Inc., 468 Mich. 459 (use of extrinsic evidence for ambiguous contracts)
Reicher v. SET Enters., Inc., 283 Mich. App. 657 (mediation agreement construed as settlement/contract)
In re MKK, 286 Mich. App. 546 (standard of review for disqualification motions)
People v. Jackson, 292 Mich. App. 583 (presumption of judicial impartiality)
Alan Custom Homes, Inc. v. Krol, 256 Mich. App. 505 (damages review after bench trial)