Cates v. Eddy
| Citation | 50 A.L.R.4th 821,669 P.2d 912 |
| Decision Date | 16 September 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-9,83-9 |
| Parties | Earl C. CATES, Sr., Appellant (Defendant), v. Bruce N. EDDY, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming |
Walter C. Urbigkit, Jr. (argued) and Carole Shotwell of Urbigkit & Whitehead, P.C., Cheyenne, for appellant.
Dallas J. Laird, Casper, for appellee.
Before ROONEY, C.J., and THOMAS, ROSE, BROWN and CARDINE, JJ.
This was a malicious prosecution action resulting from the arrest of plaintiff, Bruce Eddy (appellee), upon a criminal complaint and warrant issued because of alleged conduct of defendant, Earl Cates (appellant). Appeal is from the judgment in that action awarding both compensatory and punitive damages.
We affirm the reduced judgment if remittitur is accepted; or, if it is not, we remand for a new trial on the issue of damages.
The issues upon appeal, as stated by appellant, are:
The issues are stated in six paragraphs. We have combined paragraphs B and C and revised the order in which the issues are presented. Thus, the issues for consideration are:
1. Should the court have granted a continuance?
2. Were instructions sufficient as to burden of proof?
3. Were the elements of a malicious prosecution action correctly stated; were they proven?
4. Were the damages sufficiently proven, under proper instructions?
5. Were the damages excessive?
Prior to 1979, appellant and appellee became partners in the development and subdivision of lands and other business ventures.
In 1979, they formed JEB Corporation to own and operate a farming operation on two parcels of land near Riverton, Wyoming. Appellee, Bruce Eddy, was president and manager of JEB. He divided his time between his dental practice in Casper, Wyoming and the farm near Riverton, devoting three to four days a week to the farming operation. An accountant in Lander was employed by JEB to keep the books and records of the corporation. Occasionally appellee signed checks in blank which he left with the accountant to be used for paying bills.
The farming operation did not fare well. Large numbers of livestock were lost due to weather or for other reasons, supplies and equipment were confiscated or turned up missing, the corporation was heavily in debt, and during June or July of 1980, appellant took over the operation. The JEB checkbook and books and records of the corporation were delivered to appellant by the accountant.
By this time, the business relationship between appellant and appellee had deteriorated significantly, and they had become involved in serious disputes over their affairs.
There was outstanding a bill owed to Farmers Exchange at Riverton for agricultural supplies and equipment sold upon open account to JEB Corporation. On August 21, 1980, Farmers Exchange sent a statement of this account in the amount of $9,669.83 to appellant requesting payment. By letter, dated August 25, 1980, appellant advised Farmers Exchange that the statement should be submitted to Dr. Bruce Eddy (appellee) or James Willey (also a stockholder in JEB Corporation but not involved in this matter).
On August 30, 1980, Farmers Exchange sent a second statement of this account to appellant with a service charge added showing a total balance due of $9,814.17. This statement was neither sent nor communicated to appellee.
On September 4, 1980, appellant, by letter, advised Farmers Exchange to submit the statement to Bruce N. Eddy, JEB Ranch Company, for payment. On the same date, September 4, 1980, a JEB Ranch Company typewritten check over appellant's signature as maker in the amount of $9,814.17 was mailed to Farmers Exchange. The JEB Ranch Company checking account had been closed for some time before September 4, 1980. The check was deposited, marked by the bank, "Account Closed" and returned to Farmers Exchange.
Farmers Exchange contacted appellee about the check. Appellee stated that he was unaware of it, that he would work it out, and requested that they send him a copy. After receiving a copy of the check, appellee called Farmers Exchange advising that he thought the signature was his, that he did not believe he had sent the check, and that he would try to work something out. On October 16, 1980, appellee, by letter to Farmers Exchange, advised that he did not make out the check, but wanted to resolve the problems of JEB Ranch and requested that prosecution be withheld. Appellee did nothing thereafter. On January 9, 1981, a complaint and warrant was issued that resulted in appellee's arrest on the same date.
Appellee was arrested at his home in Casper, Wyoming, taken outside, and forced to stand spread-eagled over the hood of his car, where, in view of his neighbors, he was searched, handcuffed, placed in the police car, and driven to jail. He was arrested at 4:38 p.m. and released from jail at 5:20 p.m. the same day upon his oral recognizance to appear in court on January 18, 1981. On February 17, 1981, the charge was dismissed.
Appellee was embarrassed, humiliated, depressed, concerned over the effect on his children and family of his arrest, unable to concentrate in his work, rescheduled appointments with patients, and concerned that the conviction of a felony might result in the loss of his dental license. He was seen by a psychiatrist and a psychologist who testified to the mental suffering and problems caused by his arrest. He incurred attorneys' fees in the amount of $5,000, although he testified that only part of that Appellee had previously written insufficient funds checks on the JEB Ranch Company account, had previously been arrested and put in jail for several hours on a driving-while-under-the-influence charge, going through about the same book-in and release procedure. At the time, appellee was involved in twelve lawsuits, six of which he specifically remembered. There was also an ongoing grand jury investigation concerning machinery which the FBI had seized from the JEB Ranch Company at Riverton. This evidence was introduced by appellant as a factor involved in appellee's inability to function in his work and his emotional distress.
related to the arrest and the balance concerned other lawsuits in which he was involved and other matters. He claimed special damages of $450 for psychiatric fees, $165 for psychological consultation, $200 in investigative fees (he submitted to a lie detector test which was a factor in the charges against him being dismissed), and $5,000 attorneys' fees.
After being released from jail, appellee telephoned appellant about the check. He testified that appellant told him that he had made out and sent the check to Farmers Exchange. Appellee's wife, Sue Eddy, testified to another telephone conversation she overheard in which appellant stated he would "get Bruce [appellee] arrested." Sue Eddy also testified that she was on a telephone extension when appellee called appellant after his arrest and that appellant, when asked if he had had appellee arrested, answered "yes."
A business associate of both parties, Marvin Klassen, testified that in November 1980 appellant, in a conversation, advised him that he had appellee on a bum check charge and was going to put him in jail.
Appellant denied completing the check, denied sending it to Farmers Exchange, and denied the telephone conversations with appellee. Appellant admitted advising Marvin Klassen in November of 1980 that appellee was going to jail, but stated that conversation concerned the grand jury investigation in federal court over the confiscated equipment from the farm in Riverton.
The jury found that appellant had intentionally, willfully, and maliciously, knowing the account was closed, obtained a check signed in blank by appellee, and had completed and mailed that check to Farmers Exchange for the purpose of procuring the arrest of appellee. A verdict was returned awarding appellee $100,000 compensatory damages.
The trial was bifurcated, and the question of punitive damages was presented separately to the same jury the following day. Appellant's net worth was established as being in excess of $1,500,000. The jury returned a verdict awarding exemplary damages to appellee in the amount of $200,000. Appeal is from this judgment totaling $300,000.
Should the court have granted a continuance?
This case was commenced by appellee filing his complaint on April 1, 1981. About a year later, on April 30, 1982, pretrial conference was held and the case then was set for trial by jury on October 4, 1982.
On September 22, 1982, appellant's first attorney filed a motion for continuance. On September 29, just five days prior to trial, a motion to withdraw was filed, signed by both appellant and his attorney, stating that appellant "no longer wishes to retain the said [first attorney] * * *." On the same date an order was entered allowing the withdrawal noting, "that the defendant [appellant] has insisted on Counsel withdrawing, as of September 28, 1982." Appellant, then, on September 30, pro se, filed a motion for continuance. Second counsel was retained on the evening of September 30th and he filed, on October 1, 1982, yet another motion for continuance. The motions for continuance were denied at a hearing conducted immediately prior to the commencement of trial.
The trial court has broad discretion in granting or denying of a motion...
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