Jarett v. Walker
| Decision Date | 16 June 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 3448.,No. 3447.,3447.,3448. |
| Citation | 201 A.2d 523 |
| Parties | Irwin M. JARETT, Appellant, v. Harry S. WALKER, Jr., Appellee. Harry S. WALKER, Jr., Appellant, v. Irwin M. JARETT, Appellee. |
| Court | D.C. Court of Appeals |
J. Parker Connor, Washington, D. C., with whom Eugene F. Mullin, Jr., and S. White Rhyne, Jr., Washington, D. C., were on the brief, for Harry S. Walker, Jr.
Before HOOD, Chief Judge, and QUINN and MYERS, Associate Judges.
This appeal and cross-appeal arose out of an action by Jarett for false imprisonment and for malicious prosecution and a cross-claim by Walker for assault and battery.
The Agreed Statement of Proceedings and Evidence discloses that on August 13, 1960, Jarett and one Grimes were demonstrating a turbo-jet powered boat to prospective customers on the Potomac River, north of Seneca Creek, in Montgomery County, Maryland. On their third trip up the river, Jarett observed a man sitting in a rowboat fishing in a cove off the Maryland shore. He later found out that the man was Harry S. Walker, Jr.
Jarett testified that Walker motioned the boat over to his rowboat, cursed Jarett and grabbed the stern of Jarett's boat, holding it until he had finished his remarks; that when Walker had completed his remarks, Grimes drove the turbo-jet boat away at a very slow speed and as he did so a little water from the jet streams, not more than a quart or so,1 splashed into Walker's rowboat.
Walker and his witnesses testified that Jarett's boat came upstream at a high speed, passing within 20 to 30 feet from him and throwing a big wake;2 that on the second trip a short time later, Walker beckoned to the occupants; that the jet boat stopped, backed up in reverse at high speed into his rowboat, pushing it against the logs in the river and causing him to fall; that he grabbed the other boat as he fell. He further testified that the driver of the turbo-jet suddenly started the boat forward at high speed and that the spray from the jets drenched him and filled his boat over half full of water.
Walker complained to the Montgomery County police of Jarett's alleged reckless navigation. A detective on the staff listened to Walker's story and then consulted with an assistant state's attorney for Montgomery County who advised Walker, through the police, to prosecute. On August 18, 1960, Walker swore out a warrant for the arrest of Jarett. At trial in the People's Court for Montgomery County, the charges against Jarett were dismissed. Jarett then instituted suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia alleging false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. Walker counter-claimed for assault and battery. The case was certified to the Court of General Sessions for trial pursuant to Section 11-962, D.C.Code, 1961 edition as amended.
At conclusion of plaintiff's case, the defendant (Walker) moved for a directed verdict. The trial court granted the motion on the count dealing with false imprisonment but denied it on the count alleging malicious prosecution. When defendant rested his case, Jarett moved for, and was granted, a directed verdict on Walker's counterclaim.3 The jury returned a verdict for Jarett in the amount of $1,000 compensatory damages and $1,000 punitive damages. Walker then filed a motion to set aside the verdict and for judgment in his favor. After hearing, the court vacated the verdict for punitive damages but denied the motion on the verdict for compensatory damages.
Walker, as appellant in No. 3448, claims as error, inter alia, that the court erred (1) in refusing to enter judgment n. o. v. on the jury verdict for compensatory damages as the verdict was clearly against the weight of the evidence which showed that Walker acted without malice and with probable cause, and (2) in directing a verdict for plaintiff on defendant's counterclaim. Our disposition of Walker's appeal eliminates consideration of the points claimed as error by Jarett in No. 3447.
We are of the opinion that Walker's motion for a directed verdict at the conclusion of all the evidence should have been granted as Walker made out a case of probable cause for prosecution as a matter of law, which required the trial judge to take the case from the jury. By denying Walker's motion for a directed verdict at the close of all the evidence, the legal questions raised by the motion were reserved for later determination by the court, and Walker properly raised them by filing a motion for judgment n. o. v. The failure to establish a case required entry of judgment for the movant. Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Duncan, 311 U.S. 243, 61 S.Ct. 189, 85 L.Ed. 147; Lancaster v. Carmel, D.C.App., 193 A.2d 555; GS Rule 50(b).
Whether Jarett made out a case of malicious prosecution so as to preclude a directed verdict or judgment n. o. v. must be determined within the background of Maryland law which governs the place of the tort.
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