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Oddo v. Presser6/17/2003
) (upholding punitive damages against the defendant in an action for alienation of affections and criminal conversation, where the only evidence of malice or other aggravating circumstances was evidence from which the jury could infer sexual relations between the defendant and the plaintiff's wife). We therefore overrule this assignment of error.
By his final assignment of error, defendant argues that the punitive damages awarded in this case were excessive as a matter of law, and that the trial court therefore abused its discretion in failing to grant a new trial. We disagree. Section 1D-25 of the North Carolina General Statutes provides in pertinent part as follows:
Punitive damages awarded against a defendant shall not exceed three times the amount of compensatory damages or two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), whichever is greater. If a trier of fact returns a verdict for punitive damages in excess of the maximum amount specified under this subsection, the trial court shall reduce the award and enter judgment for punitive damages in the maximum amount.
N.C. Gen. Stat. ยง 1D-25(b) (2001). Within the statutory limits, the jury may award punitive damages in its sound discretion, and the trial court should not disturb such an award unless the amount assessed is "`excessively disproportionate to the circumstances of contumely and indignity present in the case.'" Hutelmyer, 133 N.C. App. at 375, 514 S.E.2d at 562 (quoting Carawan v. Tate, 53 N.C. App. 161, 165, 280 S.E.2d 528, 531 (1981)). Even nominal damages may support a substantial award of punitive damages. See Horner v. Byrnett, 132 N.C. App. 323, 328, 511 S.E.2d 342, 346 (1999) (concluding that there was no abuse of discretion by the trial court in denying the defendant's motion for a new trial where the jury awarded the plaintiff $1.00 in compensatory damages and $85,000.00 in punitive damages for criminal conversation).
In Hutelmyer, the jury awarded the plaintiff $500,000.00 in compensatory damages and $500,000.00 in punitive damages in a claim for alienation of affections and criminal conversation. See Hutelmyer, 133 N.C. App. at 375, 514 S.E.2d at 562. The defendant argued on appeal that the award of punitive damages was excessive as a matter of law. Because the jury could have awarded 1.5 million dollars in punitive damages under section 1D-25(b), this Court concluded that the award of $500,000.00 was not excessive as a matter of law, and that no abuse of discretion had been shown. See id.
Defendant in the present case has likewise shown no abuse of discretion by the trial court. Even subtracting the total amount of $282,122.87, which plaintiff represented was the value of his lost tuition benefits, from the amount of compensatory damages awarded by the jury, the amount awarded for punitive damages remains substantially lower than the compensatory damages award. Further, because plaintiff has established his cause of action, and therefore his entitlement to at least nominal damages, the award of punitive damages may stand alone and is unaffected by our decision to grant defendant a new trial on the issue of compensatory damages. See Jennings v. Jessen, 103 N.C. App. 739, 744-45, 407 S.E.2d 264, 267 (1991) (affirming an award for punitive damages in the amount of $300,000.00 although vacating the award of $200,000.00 in compensatory damages). The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion for a new trial, and we overrule this assignment of error.
In conclusion, we hold that the trial court erred in allowing evidence of speculative damages to plaintiff. We must therefore reverse in part the judgment of the trial court and remand this case for a ne
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