Cruz v. Montoya, s. 17670

• Decision Date: 15 March 1983
• Docket Number: 17646,Nos. 17670,s. 17670
• Citation: 660 P.2d 723
• Parties: Santos CRUZ, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Val MONTOYA, Mike Montoya, et al., Defendants and Respondents. Santos CRUZ, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Val MONTOYA, et al., Defendants and Appellants.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

Page 723

660 P.2d 723

Santos CRUZ, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Val MONTOYA, Mike Montoya, et al., Defendants and Respondents.

Santos CRUZ, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Val MONTOYA, et al., Defendants and Appellants.

Nos. 17670, 17646.

Supreme Court of Utah.

March 15, 1983.

Brian M. Barnard, Salt Lake City, for Santos Cruz.

David Paul White, Salt Lake City, for Val Montoya.

Mike Montoya, pro se.

HOWE, Justice:

This review combines two separate appeals from the same judgment. In case No. 17670 one of the defendants, Val Montoya (Val), seeks a new trial on the ground that excessive damages were awarded against him, that the trial court failed to give certain jury instructions, and that his trial attorney inadequately represented him. In case No. 17646 the plaintiff, Santos Cruz (Santos), seeks a reversal of the trial court's directed verdict in favor of another defendant, Mike Montoya (Mike), and a remand for a new trial.

These cases arise from an incident in a Salt Lake City cafe where Santos sustained personal injuries as the result of a fight with the Montoyas. The facts were disputed at trial and the evidence was conflicting. However, on appeal the evidence is viewed in a light which is consistent with the jury verdict. Ostertag v. La Mont, 9 Utah 2d 130, 339 P.2d 1022 (1959).

Santos and his girlfriend, Darla (now his wife), entered the cafe late in the evening and sat a few tables away from Val, Mike, Joe and David Montoya who were already seated. The latter group had come from a bar where they had been drinking and playing darts in league competition. A comment from someone at the Montoya table directed at Darla precipitated an exchange of words between Santos and the Montoyas. Santos stood up and one of the Montoyas knocked him down. Darla and Santos identified the assailant as Joe Montoya while Val and Mike testified that he was David "Monty" Montoya. Darla testified that at this point all of the Montoyas joined in the beating--hitting and kicking Santos who was on the floor covering his head to protect himself, unable to fight back. A waitress saw one of the Montoyas grab Santos but did not see more since another of the Montoyas blocked her view.

Moments after this initial altercation had subsided and the Montoyas were walking away from Santos, he wiped blood from his lip and directed a comment at the Montoyas about the four on one odds of the fight. Darla made a similar comment. Val responded verbally and went back to Santos and struck him. Again, other Montoyas followed, kicking and hitting him and, in Santos' words, with "more anger" than the first time. This beating lasted a few minutes longer than the first one which was only a couple of minutes. In this altercation Val kneed Santos in the ribs, hit him in the head and kicked him. Santos also had a patch of hair pulled from his head; but, he did not know which of the Montoyas had held him down by the hair while the others had continued the beating. He was also kicked in the face. The owner of the cafe saw at least three of the Montoyas involved in the fight but could not identify who did what because they were all big men (weighing around 250 pounds each) who were similar in appearance.

None of the witnesses for Santos testified that Mike was involved in the second altercation. Santos testified that all of the other Montoyas participated. Mike testified that he had attempted to break up the fight.

Val claimed no involvement in the first altercation. He explained his involvement in the second fight as self defense against Santos who, upon recognizing Val as an off-duty police officer, made a derogatory statement and came toward him in a threatening manner. On cross-examination Val testified further that although he had been trained in methods to subdue assailants, he continued to hit Santos anywhere he could once he was on top of him because Santos was hitting him.

The fracas subsided and all of the Montoyas left the cafe before the police arrived. Santos sustained personal injuries including teeth knocked loose, hair pulled from his scalp, and his face and lip beaten so that they remained swollen for a time. Additionally his legs, back and ribs had been battered and his entire body ached. He lost days from his job, sought medical and dental care, and at the time of trial testified that he was still somewhat limited from engaging in sporting and other activities in which he had formerly participated.

The jury awarded a verdict against Val in the sum of $9,000 general damages, $579.89 special damages and $12,000 punitive damages. The trial court directed a verdict in favor of Mike because Santos had failed to prove a prima facie case against him. The other defendants were not present at the trial; however, jurisdiction of Joe was obtained and the court entered judgment of $1,000 general damages, $869.80 special damages and $1,000 punitive damages against him jointly and severally with the award against Val. Joe has not appealed.

DAMAGES

Juries are generally allowed wide discretion in the assessment of damages. Amoss v. Broadbent, 30 Utah 2d 165, 514 P.2d 1284 (1973). Where personal injuries involve a loss of employment, personal inconvenience, and pain and suffering, there is no set formula to compute the amount of damages. Jorgensen v. Gonzales, 14 Utah 2d 330, 383 P.2d 934 (1963). We stated in a slander suit which awarded compensatory and punitive damages:

[W]hen physical injury is involved, courts have no hesitancy in allowing and approving substantial awards as general damages which include pain and suffering. The pain and suffering inflicted upon the mind and the emotions by such wrongful act of another is no less real; and should be no less entitled to be compensated for.

Prince v. Peterson, Utah, 538 P.2d 1325, 1329 (1975). This Court defers to the jury determination unless a verdict is "so excessive as to be shocking to one's conscience and to clearly indicate passion, prejudice or corruption on the part of the jury." McAfee v. Ogden Union Ry. & Depot Co., 62 Utah 115, 129, 218 P. 98, 104 (1923).

The award of compensatory damages in this case neither shocks the conscience of this Court nor clearly indicates passion, prejudice or corruption by the jury. Santos not only suffered lost wages and medical and dental expenses which were compensated in the award of $579.89 special damages against Val (or $869.80 against Joe), but he also underwent the pain and suffering of a bruised and battered body and head as well as puffed and bleeding lips and the loss of a patch of hair from his scalp. The fact that the injuries were not more severe makes the pain and suffering no less real. Santos' bruises took a month to heal; his hair did not grow back for several months; he still had pain in performing some of the physical tasks of his employment and was limited in his sports activities at the time of trial. In view of the present cost of living and the diminished purchasing power of the dollar, $9,000 in general damages does not seem excessive. See McAfee v. Ogden Ry. & Depot Co., supra. Additionally, the trial court's indication of his approval by not interfering with the verdict or granting a new trial on his own motion reaffirms our confidence in the jury verdict. See Prince v. Peterson, supra; State Road Commission v. Kendell, 20 Utah 2d 356, 438 P.2d 178 (1968); and Geary v. Cain, 69 Utah 340, 255 P. 416 (1927).

The $12,000 awarded in punitive damages against Val is another matter. The amount of punitive damages to be awarded is left to the discretion of the jury unless it acts motivated by passion or prejudice. Terry v. Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution, Utah, 605 P.2d 314 (1979); Powers v. Taylor, 14 Utah 2d 152, 379 P.2d 380 (1963). However, punitive damages must bear a reasonable relationship to actual damages. Kesler v. Rogers, Utah, 542 P.2d 354 (1975); Prince v. Peterson, supra. Cf. Nash v. Craigco, Inc., Utah, 585 P.2d 775 (1978). Nonetheless, punitive damages need not be a certain percentage of or even less than general damages. Leigh Furniture & Carpet Co. v. Isom, Utah, 657 P.2d 293, and cases cited therein.

Some factors to be considered in determining the amount of damages to be awarded are: The particular nature of the defendant's acts, the probability of those acts being repeated in the future, the relative wealth of the defendant, the effect of his misconduct on the lives of the plaintiff and others, the relationship between the parties, the facts and circumstances surrounding the misconduct, and the amount of actual damages awarded. First Security Bank of Utah v. J.B.J. Feedyards, Inc., 653 P.2d 591 (1982) and cases cited therein; Terry v. Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution, supra. See also Elkington v. Foust, Utah, 618 P.2d 37 (1980); Holdaway v. Hall, 29 Utah 2d 77, 505 P.2d 295 (1973); Monter v. Kratzers Specialty Bread Co., 29 Utah 2d 18, 504 P.2d 40 (1972) regarding the conduct of defendant.

Here, there was evidence against Val that his participation was reprehensible. He not only joined in the first fight with Joe and the others, but he also attacked Santos again after he had been beaten, when he was bleeding and dazed and after the fight had subsided. Even though he was bigger than Santos, had three other big men in his company, and had been trained in ways to control an assailant, Val in his own words, continued, once on top of Santos, to hit Santos anywhere he could since Santos was hitting him. He also kneed Santos in the ribs, hit him in the head and kicked him. While evidence suggested that Joe and the others were also brutal, the evidence against Val, in particular, was substantial. Furthermore, it is reasonable to conclude that the effect of his misconduct contributed in large part to the harm suffered by Santos--some of which, if not permanent in nature appeared to have been prolonged.

Punitive damages should be more than an inconvenience to Val. Their amount should be sufficient...