Freightliner v. Gyles

Citation: Freightliner Corp. v. Gyles, 521 P.2d 1 (Ore. 1974).

The plaintiff brought an action for an injunction and an accounting. The trial court found that neither the accounting nor the injunction was proper, but nevertheless entered judgment in plaintiffs favor for $8,000, based on defendant's conversion of plaintiff's truck parts.

To establish the conversion, plaintiffs witness testified that he had checked the computer tapes which store the inventory and sale information, and had determined that these missing parts had not been sold. The witness did not introduce a printout of that information, and the defendant objected to this evidence as hearsay.

The Oregon Supreme Court reversed the judgment, holding that the witness' testimony was not the best evidence and, therefore, the judgment was erroneous.