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Oddo v. Presser6/17/2003
pp. 521, 527, 265 S.E.2d 434, 438 (1980) (affirming trial court's refusal to enter judgment on the verdict for plaintiff on the issue of punitive damages where plaintiff's only evidence of aggravation tended to show that defendant allowed plaintiff's spouse to repeatedly visit her house even though defendant had knowledge that such visits caused marital discord).
The majority relies heavily on Ward in support of its conclusion that sexual intercourse, in and of itself, is sufficient to submit the issue of punitive damages to a jury. However, this was not the essential holding in Ward, and to the extent Ward can be interpreted to support that proposition it is obiter dicta. See State v. Hickey, 317 N.C. 457, 465, 346 S.E.2d 646, 652 (1986) (holding obiter dicta is not binding authority).
Although Ward includes the statement that evidence of sexual intercourse will allow submission of the issue of punitive damages, neither the cases upon which Ward relies nor the facts at issue in Ward support the majority's conclusion. In addition to evidence of sexual intercourse, Ward found:
here was evidence of other aggravating circumstances. Specifically, after forming a sexual relationship with plaintiff's husband, the defendant accompanied him when he returned his children to the custody of plaintiff. On a later date, the defendant appeared unannounced at the front door of the marital home, asking plaintiff if they could be friends. Again, about a week later, defendant arrived in the driveway of the marital home while plaintiff's husband was visiting his children, blowing the car horn for plaintiff's husband. The plaintiff walked outside and recognized the defendant, who subsequently drove away without Mr. Ward. We find this evidence of additional circumstances of aggravation sufficient to warrant submission of the punitive damages issue to the jury on plaintiff's claim for alienation of affections. Ward, 141 N.C. App. at 51, 539 S.E.2d at 35 (emphasis added).
In Ward, as in all of the cases to which it cites in support of its proposition that sexual intercourse will allow submission of the issue of punitive damages to a jury, there was evidence of additional aggravating factors which supported submission of the issue to a jury. Moreover, none of the cases cited by Ward hold, as the majority does, that sexual intercourse, in and of itself, is sufficient to allow submission of punitive damages to a jury in an alienation of affections claim.
In Ward, defendant repeatedly harassed plaintiff at her home and flaunted her relationship with plaintiff's husband. Id. In Hutelmyer, defendant publicly displayed her affair with plaintiff's husband and called plaintiff's home to determine his whereabouts. Hutelmyer, 133 N.C. App. at 371, 514 S.E.2d at 560. In Jennings, defendant cohabited for several weeks with plaintiff's husband and called plaintiff's home in an attempt to discover her husband's whereabouts. Jennings, 103 N.C. App. at 744, 407 S.E.2d at 267. In Shaw, defendant ignored plaintiff's request not to visit the marital home and laughed when plaintiff's wife told him that plaintiff knew of the relationship. Shaw, 101 N.C. App. at 517, 400 S.E.2d at 103.
Contrary to both the plaintiff's contention and the majority holding, prior case law does not validate the conclusion that evidence of sexual intercourse, standing alone, is sufficient to submit the issue of punitive damages to a jury. Although there may be a correlation between cases involving sexual intercourse and those where the issue of punitive damages is submitted to the jury, relevant case law does not support the conclusion reached by the majority. Application of the majority's interpretation of
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