Krehbiel v. Henkle

• Decision Date: 18 November 1911
• Citation: 152 Iowa 604,133 N.W. 115
• Parties: KREHBIEL v. HENKLE.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

152 Iowa 604

133 N.W. 115

KREHBIEL

v.HENKLE.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Nov. 18, 1911.

Petition for rehearing denied.

For former opinion, see 129 N. W. 945.

PER CURIAM.

The finding of the original opinion that the eighteenth paragraph of the court's charge was erroneous should be more fully considered to prevent possible misunderstanding of the opinion. The intention was to hold that it was erroneous as applied to the facts in this case without further direction to the jury as to what would constitute actual damages under the circumstances. The wrongful and malicious search of the plaintiff's home for the avowed purpose of finding stolen property therein was such an invasion of the plaintiff's rights as to cause mental suffering and humiliation for which the defendant must respond in actual damages, although such damages are not capable of exact measurement in dollars and cents. McKinely v. Railway Co., 44 Iowa, 315, 24 Am. Rep. 748; Shepard v. Railway Co., 77 Iowa, 54, 41 N. W. 564; 1 Sutherland on Damages, 716. If the feelings of the wronged party are injured, if he feels the disgrace and indignity of the wrongful act, he is entitled to actual damages, though the act itself may not have lessened the esteem of his neighbors and friends, or have affected his standing in the community. Such damages cannot be proved or measured as ordinary damages are. No one would undertake to say how much damage in dollars had been suffered on account of a wanton and malicious tort, nor is it necessary to so say. 12 Am. & Eng. Enc. of Law, 30. The instruction undoubtedly announced the correct abstract rule applicable in many cases, but it was misleading here, and consequently erroneous, because the jury was nowhere clearly instructed that actual damages might be allowed for the indignity offered by the defendant and for the mental pain alone suffered on account thereof.

The petition for rehearing is overruled.