## Facts

- Berg Lumber Company (Berg) owned a Caterpillar motor grader used in its business.
- Berg hired an independent contractor, Joe Crail, for hauling work. Crail moved the grader to Richard Cross’s ranch and used it there; Berg maintained that Crail did so without Berg’s permission.
- Cross claimed Crail’s work damaged Cross’s property. After Berg learned the grader was on Cross’s ranch, Berg allowed Cross to borrow the grader temporarily to repair the damage.
- Berg expected to retrieve the grader after the repair work, but Cross kept the grader and repeatedly prevented Berg or Berg’s agents from retrieving it or even inspecting it.
- Over the years, Berg made multiple efforts to locate and recover the grader. Cross rebuffed those efforts and at times represented that the grader was “gone.”
- Berg ultimately located the grader (including by aerial search) and made a formal written demand for its return on October 9, 1996.
- Cross did not return the grader. Berg filed suit on January 5, 1998 in the District Court of Converse County, Wyoming, asserting conversion and replevin.
- After a bench trial, the district court ordered Cross to return the grader and awarded Berg $83,400 in incidental damages, including:
  - engine repair;
  - replacement of the cutting edge and batteries;
  - tire replacement with depreciation taken into account;
  - costs of attempted recovery and investigation; and
  - loss of use, measured by the grader’s monthly rental value.
- Cross appealed, challenging the statute-of-limitations ruling, certain factual findings (including permission and estoppel), and the damages methodology.

## Issues

1. Whether Berg’s replevin and conversion claims were barred by the statute of limitations, including when the causes of action accrued where possession was initially permissive but later became wrongful.
2. Whether the district court clearly erred in finding that Berg did not authorize Crail’s initial taking and that Cross wrongfully detained the grader, and whether Berg was estopped from asserting ownership.
3. Whether the district court applied an incorrect legal standard in calculating incidental damages and loss-of-use damages, including using rental value to measure loss of use.

## Decision

- The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s judgment in full.
- It held Berg’s claims were timely because, on these facts, accrual occurred when Cross’s detention became adverse to Berg’s rights and was made clear through Berg’s demand and Cross’s refusal (and related conduct preventing recovery).
- It held the challenged factual findings were not clearly erroneous and that the district court could reject Cross’s estoppel theory because the record lacked facts supporting estoppel.
- It upheld the $83,400 award, including repair-related amounts, recovery-related expenses, and loss-of-use damages measured by the grader’s rental value, as supported by the evidence and consistent with Wyoming damages law for wrongful detention of personal property.

## Legal Principles

- When a defendant’s initial possession of personal property is lawful or permissive, a conversion claim generally accrues when the defendant exercises dominion inconsistent with the owner’s rights, commonly shown by a demand for return and a refusal to return.
- In a bench trial, appellate review of findings of fact proceeds under the “clearly erroneous” standard; the trial judge evaluates credibility, and the appellate court does not reweigh disputed evidence.
- A party asserting estoppel must show facts establishing inducement, reasonable reliance, and resulting prejudice; where the record contains no supporting facts, a court may reject estoppel without extended analysis.
- In replevin and conversion actions, a court may order return of the chattel and award incidental damages caused by wrongful detention, including reasonable repair costs and reasonable expenses incurred in efforts to locate and recover the property.
- Loss-of-use damages for wrongfully detained equipment may be proved with reasonable certainty and may be measured by the reasonable rental value of comparable equipment for the period of wrongful detention.
- Damage determinations are treated as findings of ultimate fact and will be upheld on appeal if supported by the record and not clearly erroneous.

## Conclusion

Cross v. Berg Lumber Co. affirms a judgment ordering return of a road grader and awarding $83,400 in incidental and loss-of-use damages where Cross initially possessed the grader with permission but later wrongfully detained it by refusing return and obstructing recovery. The Wyoming Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s statute-of-limitations ruling based on accrual at demand and refusal, deferred to the trial court’s fact findings and rejection of estoppel for lack of supporting facts, and approved a damages award that included repair and recovery expenses plus loss of use calculated from rental value.


Cross v. Berg Lumber Co., 7 P.3d 922 (2000)