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Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. v. Garrett8/28/1996
e amount of $3.5 million. In the Garrett case, OCF and PH were found jointly and severally liable for compensatory damages of $1 million. In the Hohman case, the jury found all three appellants before us, OCF, OI and PH, jointly and severally liable for compensatory damages of $1.5 million. No cross-claim defendants were found liable for contribution. Finally, the jury assessed punitive damages of $1.5 million against OCF only in the Scruggs case. OCF and OI moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and, in the alternative, a new trial; PH moved for a new trial in the cross-claims proceedings only. The trial judge denied all post-trial motions. Defendants noted their respective appeals to the Court of Special Appeals; we issued a writ of certiorari on our own motion before the cases were briefed in the intermediate appellate court.
II.
Certain of the issues before us are common to all three defendants/appellants, but each appellant also poses questions unique to itself. We present the questions here in the order and groupings in which we shall address them:
A. Did the trial judge abuse his discretion in failing to declare a mistrial based on potentially prejudicial events which occurred during trial and improper remarks during plaintiffs' closing arguments?
B. Were the jury verdicts in favor of all cross-claim defendants against the weight of the evidence, and were the special verdict sheets unfairly prejudicial to the direct defendants?
C. Was there legally sufficient evidence to sustain the jury's finding that OI Kaylo was a substantial contributing factor in Mr. Hohman's mesothelioma?
D. Should the jury's verdicts of compensatory damages against the three defendants/appellants be reduced by the amount of the settlements between plaintiffs and other defendants?
E. Did Mrs. Hohman's claim for the wrongful death of Mr. Hohman abate upon Mrs. Hohman's death?
F. Was there legally sufficient evidence, using a clear and convincing evidentiary standard, of actual malice on the part of OCF in the Scruggs case to sustain the jury's assessment of punitive damages against OCF?
G. Were the trial judge's jury instructions on punitive damages proper? Moreover, did the trial judge violate OCF's due process rights when he failed to conduct a post-verdict review of OCF's liability for punitive damages? Finally, was the evidence legally sufficient that the twin goals of punishment and deterrence were furthered by the jury's assessment of punitive damages against OCF?
III.
A. Motions for Mistrial
Defendants/appellants in this case complain that the trial judge abused his discretion in failing to declare a mistrial based on prejudicial events which occurred during trial and improper remarks during plaintiffs' closing arguments. Although we do not condone the conduct of plaintiffs' attorneys, under the circumstances we do not find an abuse of discretion. We shall summarize the parties' arguments, then set forth the applicable law and our analysis.
OCF, OI, and, by adoption, PH, first contend they were irreparably prejudiced by the highly improper closing arguments of plaintiffs' attorneys, who, in the words of defendants, "repeatedly hurled criminal accusations and invectives" at them. Although the trial judge sustained several objections, warned the plaintiffs' counsel, and issued two curative instructions, defendants further complain that the trial judge's efforts to put a halt to the plaintiffs' conduct were "pathetically inadequate."
For example, counsel in Mr. Hohman's case stated in closing argument:
"This is a case o
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Maryland Personal Injury Attorneys
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