Dale Gooch appeals from two separate orders of the trial court, entered following a bench trial; he asserts that the trial court erred in: 1 finding in favor of Dede Tudor on her claim against Gooch for malicious prosecution; 2 awarding Tudor punitive damages; and 3 granting Tudor’s motion for a directed verdict on Gooch’s claim for trover and cancelling the notice of lis pendens he had filed against Tudor’s property. Discerning no error, we affirm. While we apply a de novo standard of review to any questions of law decided by the trial court, factual findings made after a bench trial shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous, and due regard shall be given to the opportunity of the trial court to judge the credibility of the witnesses. OCGA § 9-11-52 a. Because the clearly erroneous test is in effect the same standard as the any evidence rule, appellate courts will not disturb fact findings of a trial court if there is any evidence to sustain them. Citations and punctuation omitted. Lifestyle Home Rentals, LLC v. Rahman .1 So viewed, the evidence shows that in fall of 2006, Gooch contracted with Tudor to build a fence around the perimeter of her property. The parties agreed that Tudor would pay $10.25 per linear foot of fence, with the entire amount being due upon completion of the fence. During the course of the fence construction, the parties further agreed that Gooch would build several fence partitions with gates, on interior portions of the property. Gooch and Tudor also agreed that Gooch would install a custom-built wrought iron gate and latch and specially-made gate posts at the front entrance to the property.
The project took over a month to complete and, after he finished construction, Gooch presented Tudor with a bill for $27,277.50. According to Gooch, Tudor told him she did not have the money to pay the bill. Tudor, however, testified that she had repeatedly asked Gooch for an estimate of the total cost of the completed project both prior to and during the construction of the fence, that Gooch had refused to provide such an estimate, and that she was unprepared to receive so large a bill. She therefore told Gooch that she could pay him $10,000 towards the fence, but would need to check with her bank about the availability of additional funds before writing him a larger check. Gooch declined the offer of a $10,000 payment and demanded payment of the entire bill. Tudor specifically denied telling Gooch that she had no money to pay his bill.
