68 Fla. 490 | Fla. | 1914
On the 12th day of May, 1911, S. H. Gove filed his bill in chancery against the Nautilus Hotel Company, a Corporation, and other defendants, for the enforcement of a lien against certain described property of the Nautilus Hotel Company for the sum of $8,227.33, the balance remaining due and unpaid the complainant for labor performed and material furnished in the construction of a hotel building for such defendant. The Nautilus Hotel Company filed its answer, in which it denied practically all the material allegations in the bill, and averred that the compainant had no lien whatever upon .the property described, by virtue of the fact that he had been fully paid for all his labor, as well as for all the material which he had furnished and supplied and also by virtue of the fact that, even if he had any claim for a balance remaining unpaid to him for such labor and material he was estopped from asserting and enforcing it by
.. The transcript- of the record covers nearly 1500 typewritten pages, voluminous briefs have been filed and we have also had the benefit of elaborate: oral arguments by the counsel for the respective parties, all of which'have been considered by us. We do not copy any of the pleadings or the final decree or set -forth a summary - of- the evidence, as we see no useful purpose;to be accomplished* by so doing. Neither shall we discuss the several errors assigned. Even if errors were committed either during the -progress of the case or in the final decree, unless such errors were prejudicial or harmful to the appellant, he cannot be heard to complain of them. As we held' in Clarkson v. Louderback, Gilbert & Co., 36 Fla. 660, 19 South. Rep. 887; if a final decree is not so joint as to require all the defendants to join in- an-appeal therefrom,
. .In equity, as well as at law, every presumption • is in favor of-the correctness of the rulings of the trial judge, and a final decree rendered by him, based largely or solely upon questions of fact, will not be reversed unless the evidence clearly shows that it was- erroneous. See Barnes & Jessup Co. v. Putnam, 64 Fla. 190, 60 South Rep., 787. While there are conflicts in the evidence upon material points, we are of the opinion that the Circuit Court was warranted from the evidence adduced in reaching the conclusion and finding that the complainant had no lien to enforce, either upon the ground that he had been .paid all amounts to which he was entitled or on the ground that he was estopped by his conduct, which it is not necessary to particularize, .from enforcing any claim which he might otherwise have had. This being true, it necessarily follows that the complainant’s bill was properly dismissed, therefore the decree must be affirmed. •