Beverly v. Observer Pub. Co.
| Decision Date | 01 July 1953 |
| Docket Number | No. 34661,No. 1,34661,1 |
| Citation | 77 S.E.2d 80,88 Ga.App. 490 |
| Parties | BEVERLY v. OBSERVER PUB. CO. et al |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
P. W. Walton, Moultrie, for plaintiff in error.
R. S. Roddenbery, Jr., H. H. Whelchel, Gibson & DeLoache, Moultrie, for defendants in error.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court.
1. Special damages for the loss of a public office in an election for that office are too remote and speculative to be recoverable. Anderson v. Kennedy, 47 Ga.App. 380, 385, 170 S.E. 555.
2. Where nominal damages are not prayed for and there is no prayer for general damages, nominal damages cannot be recovered. East Side Lumber & Coal Co. v. Barfield, 195 Ga. 505, 508, 24 S.E.2d 681; Barwick v. American Manufacturing Co., 30 Ga.App. 761(2), 119 S.E. 218; Schuler v. Dearing Chevrolet Co., 76 Ga.App. 570(4), 46 S.E.2d 611.
3. Where neither general nor nominal damages are sought and the special damages alleged are not recoverable, the plaintiff is not entitled to recover in any amount, although he would have been entitled to nominal or general damages had they been sought. Stewart v. Western Union Telegraph Co., 83 Ga.App. 532(3), 64 S.E.2d 327; Bush v. Addison, 40 Ga.App. 799, 800(3), 151 S.E. 526.
4. Code (Ann.) § 105-2002 provides: 'In every tort there may be aggravating circumstances, either in the act or the intention, and in that event the jury may give additional damages, either to deter the wrongdoer from repeating the trespass or as compensation for the wounded feelings of the plaintiff.' The proper construction of this Code section is that punitive damages may be awarded as damages additional to such as may be primarily recovered in a pending tort action. There must be a right under the pleadings and evidence to recover general, nominal, or special damages. Otherwise, punitive damages could not and would not be additional. In this case, since neither general nor nominal damages are prayed for and the special damages alleged are not recoverable, an action for punitive damages alone remains, and a claim for punitive damages alone will not lie under Code (Ann.) § 105-2002. See Foster v. Sikes, 202 Ga. 122, 126, 42 S.E.2d 441; 25 C.J.S., Damages, § 118 page 713; Gilham v. Devereaux, 67 Mont. 75, 214 P. 606, 33 A.L.R. 384; Clark v. McClurg, 215 Cal. 279, 9 P.2d 505, 81 A.L.R. 913.
5. Under the rulings in divisions 1, 2, 3, and 4, above, where a petition alleges only special and punitive damages and the special...
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Kelley v. Austell Bldg. Supply, Inc.
...to award punitive damages in the judgment. See Haugabrook v. Taylor, 225 Ga. 317, 318, 168 S.E.2d 162; Beverly v. Observer Publishing Company, 88 Ga.App. 490(5), 77 S.E.2d 80; Lary v. Gilmer, 125 Ga.App. 604, 605, 188 S.E.2d 432; Public Finance Corporation v. Cooper, 149 Ga.App. 42, 45(6), ......
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Cabaniss v. Hipsley, 42177
...to recover general, nominal or special damages is shown. Foster v. Sikes, 202 Ga. 122, 126, 42 S.E.2d 441; Beverly v. Observer Publishing Co., 88 Ga.App. 490(4), 77 S.E.2d 80. As to Defendant On The Town, Inc. d/b/a Atlanta's Playboy 7. As is indicated by our holding concerning the matter o......
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Abbott v. Gordon, C.A. No. 04C-09-055 PLA (Del. Super. 3/27/2008)
...post-election analysis of the decisions made by the voters of Black Mountain in this or any other election."); Beverly v. Observer Pub. Co., 77 S.E.2d 80, 81 (Ga. Ct. App. 1953) (holding that special damages for the loss of a public office in an election are "too remote and speculative to b......
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Bradley v. Godwin
...Ga. 432(3), 57 S.E. 684 (1907); Spindel v. Kirsch, 114 Ga.App. 520, 522, 151 S.E.2d 787 (1966). As stated in Beverly v. Observer Pub. Co., 88 Ga.App. 490(3), 77 S.E.2d 80, 81 (1953): "(w) here neither general nor nominal damages are sought and the special damages alleged are not recoverable......