JOHN JAFFE, BARBARA JAFFE, Plaintiffs, Counter Defendants, Appellants, versus BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., Defendant, Counter Claimant, Appellee, AGRICULTURAL BANK OF CHINA, Defendant, Counter Defendant, Cross Defendant, Appellee., 395 Fed. Appx. 583

Summary

The buyers contracted to buy a yacht and set up a letter of credit upon which the seller could draw. The seller breached the contract and the performance bond was fraudulent, so the buyers tried to cancel the letter of credit. The district court enjoined the domestic bank from issuing funds, even on the foreign bank’s conforming request. After a bench trial, the district court noted that, though the buyers were fraud victims, the defrauding entities were not parties. The appellate court held that the buyers signed three valid jury trial waivers, so their right to a jury trial was not violated. Though one witness was the domestic bank’s former employee, the record showed no animus toward the buyers, and he was extensively examined, so it was not error to not allow leading questions on direct. The appellate court could infer that the district court credited the witness’s testimony that he never told the buyer that the foreign bank could not draw on the letter of credit unless the yacht ...