Question: Vernon Crum was a merchant in the business of selling used cars to used car dealers. By means of a sight draft, J&T Auto Sales bought some cars for resale from Crum. While keeping the certificates of title for the cars, Crum transferred possession of the cars to J&T. J&T transferred the cars to By-Pass Auto Sales, another used car dealer, which resold the cars in the course of its business to buyers who gave notes for them. By-Pass sold the notes to SouthTrust Bank of Alabama.
By-Pass did not pay J&T for the cars, and J&T's draft was not paid. The people who had bought the cars from By-Pass applied for certificates of title, but the state would not issue them without the current title certificates, which Crum had. SouthTrust sued Crum and J&T for the title certificates. Did ownership of the cars pass to By-Pass's customers?