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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Docket No. 35576 JAMES C. CARPENTER, ) ) Respondent, ) v. ) ) TIM TURRELL and PEGGY TURRELL, ) husband and wife, ) ) ) Appellants. ) ) Boise, December 2009 Term 2010 Opinion No. 19 Filed: February 19, 2010 Stephen W. Kenyon, Clerk

Appeal from the District Court of the First Judicial District of the State of Idaho, Kootenai County. Hon. John T. Mitchell, District Judge. The judgment of the district court is affirmed in part and vacated in part. Costs to Respondent. Dean & Kolts, LLP, Coeur dAlene, for appellants. Charles R. Dean argued. James A. Raeon, Coeur dAlene, for respondent. ____________________________________ W. JONES, Justice FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On May 23, 2003, Respondent, James Carpenter, purchased two portable buildings for which Carpenter testified he paid twenty thousand dollars cash. When transporting the larger of the two buildings, Herbert Turrell drove by, and because Carpenter was blocking the road, the two began talking. At that time, Herbert allegedly offered to allow Carpenter to store the buildings on his property. Carpenter initially planned on storing the buildings on his own property, but because of the size of the buildings, he was going to face difficulty fitting the buildings through a gate at the entrance of his property. Carpenter testified that Herbert said, "Just bring them up to my house and leave them as long as youd like." At the time, Herbert and Carpenter were neighbors, and Herbert already had an assortment of old vehicles and buildings on his property. Herbert died in June of 2005, and Herberts wife, Marian Turrell, continued to live on their property.

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After Herberts death, Tim Turrell (Tim), Herberts son and an appellant in this action, began cleaning up his parents property so that it could be sold to pay for the cost of his mothers nursing home care. As part of his cleanup effort, on November 29, 2006, and December 8, 2006, Tim sold the two portable buildings. In March of 2007, aware that Herbert had passed away, Carpenter contacted Tim to determine the status of the two buildings. Tim admitted that at that time he told Carpenter that he "had them hauled off." Carpenter subsequently filed a lawsuit against Appellants, Tim Turrell and his wife, Peggy Turrell, for conversion of the portable buildings. Following a bench trial, the district court requested post-trial briefing from both parties. In making its ruling, the district court relied upon the oral testimony of James Carpenter, the respondent; Marian Turrell; Tim; Tom Turrell, Tims brother; and David Bonder, James Carpenters friend. The district court eventually found Carpenters explanation to be more credible than Tims explanation, and the district court, in its Memorandum Decision, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order, found Carpenter to have been the owner of the two portable buildings and found that Carpenter had entered into an oral, gratuitous bailment agreement with Herbert and Marian for the storage of the two buildings. In addition, the court found Tim to have committed conversion when he sold Carpenters two portable buildings. The Turrells claimed that when selling the buildings, Tim was acting as the personal representative of his late fathers estate, and that as a result, any wrongful conduct on Tims part is the responsibility of Herberts estate. Consequently, the Turrells argue that I.C.

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Idaho Law