Azalea Drive-in Theatre, Inc. v. Hanft

HAYNSWORTH, Chief Judge:

In this civil antitrust action judgment was entered upon the verdict of a jury in favor of the plaintiffs of $100,000 actual damages, trebled under the provisions of 15 U.S.C.A. § 15 to $300,000. In entering the judgment, the district court declined to apply the doctrine of collateral estoppel to foreclose the claim, concluding that in the previous litigation in the state court the basic factual dispute had not been settled. We disagree and reverse.

The nine motion picture distributors, representing seventy-five per cent of the industry, leased moving pictures to…