Liu v. Sugarman, 633-A
| Decision Date | 25 June 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 633-A,633-A |
| Citation | 254 A.2d 753,105 R.I. 727 |
| Parties | Joseph T. C. LIU et ux. v. Minnie SUGARMAN et al. ppeal. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
This is a civil action seeking both compensatory and punitive damages. The complaint contains three counts, the first based upon the invasion of the plaintiffs' premises by the defendant, 1 the second based upon the disturbance of peaceful possession, and the third based upon assault committed by the defendant against Mrs. Liu. After a hearing before a justice of the superior court sitting without a jury, a judgment was entered for the plaintiffs for $140. The case is before this court on the plaintiffs' appeal from that judgment.
Mr. Joseph T. C. Liu, one of the plaintiffs, had received a teaching appointment at Brown University commencing September 1, 1966. After Mr. Liu and his wife had viewed defendant's premises at 19 Poplar Street in Providence, Mr. Liu, on July 9, 1966, entered into a written lease for the term of one year commencing on August 15, 1966, at a rental of $100 per month with right to renew for an additional year. Upon executiong the lease he paid two months rent in advance. The lease provided that the lessor was to leave the gas range and to allow the lessee to use the carpeting. The lease made no provision for a garage or parking space.
The plaintiffs moved into the premises on Saturday, August 13, 1966. They brought with them by 'U-haul' trailer their summer goods. They left their regular househeld furniture and equipment in storage in Providenc awaiting delivery instructions. As a result of a controversy which arose between plaintiffs and defendant and which we discuss later in this opinion, plaintiffs caused their furniture to be held in storage and sought new accommodations. On August 18, 1966, they leased other premises at 118 Everett Avenue in Providence to commence on September 1, 1966 for a period of one year at a monthly rental of $140, also without provision for a garage or parking space. These premises were about five minutes walk from the Poplar Street address and both were about twenty minutes walk from Brown University. Both the Poplar Street and the Everett Avenue locations were of comparable size, type and number of rooms. The plaintiffs moved into the Everett Avenue premises on either August 31 or September 1, 1966. The plaintiffs rented a garage at the cost of $14 per month. To this point there is no substantial conflict in the evidence, but the evidence which follows is for the most part, contradictory.
The plaintiffs testified that on many occasions defendant came into their apartment unannounced and uninvited, sometimes by the use of a key which she had retained and on other occasions by her insistent pounding on the door. The defendant had left a bed for the use of plaintiffs until their furniture was delivered. During one of her visits, defendant told Mrs. Liu to either return the bed immediately or she would be charged $5 per night for its use. She told Mrs. Liu to place the bed on the enclosed front porch. That evening, after Mr. Liu returned from work, he disassembled the bed and placed it on the front porch. Mrs. Liu testified that the next morning she was awakened by a pounding on the front door; that as she opened the door, the mattress which her husband had placed on the front porch the previous evening was forceably shoved through the doorway directly at her; that as she attempted to back away from it to avoid being struck, she fell backwards against the wall and remained on the floor while defendant shoved the mattress into the living room; and that then defendant brought the other parts of the bed in and commanded that they remain there. Mrs. Liu, who was then pregnant, further testified that she was very frightened and concerned about the condition of the child she was carrying. She called her husband at work and he came home.
Mrs. Liu's obstetrician testified that he saw Mrs. Liu on a semi-emergency basis on the 17th or 18th of August 1966 because she had called for an appointment. When he examined her he found her to be slightly upset and nervous, but he found no cause for emergency, and concluded that the pregnancy would not be affected. He prescribed a tranquilizer and subsequently, when it was found to be ineffective, he prescribed a stronger tranquilizer to relieve her nervousness and emotional disturbance.
To prove damages, plaintiffs presented the testimony of George A. Freeman, a real estate expert. He testified in substance that both houses were similar or comparable in appearance and layout and that in his opinion the fair rental value of the Poplar Street premises during the month of August 1966 was $130 per month; that during the same period the fair rental value of the Everett Avenue premises was $140 per month. Samuel C. Riddell, defendant's real estate expert, testified that in his opinion the fair rental value of the Poplar Street apartment was not over $90 per month in the month of August, 1966.
The defendant's version of what occurred follows. She said she had a dispute with plaintiffs about her right pursuant to an oral agreement to use the stove to warm her food. On August 14, 1966, as a result of a dispute arising from her request to use the stove, Mr. Liu accused her of pushing him around and began to speak loudly. It was at this time that defendant told plaintiffs to leave her premises. One morning during the following week she found some butter in her refrigerator belonging to plaintiffs. She knocked on plaintiffs' door and and when Mrs. Liu answered, she tole her that she had the butter. She also told Mrs. Liu that from then on she would charge them $5 per day for the use of her bedroom set and chairs which plaintiffs were using, but which were not included in the lease. On another morning, after the August 14 incident, defendant found her bed and mattress on the front porch. Upon finding them there, she knocked on plaintiffs' door which Mrs. Liu opened. The defendant told her she had three ruptured discs and was not allowed to lift anything. Mrs. Liu returned to the kitchen where she was feeding her baby. The defendant then pulled the bed and mattress into plaintiffs' living room. The defendant denied that Mrs. Liu was struck by the bed or mattress or that she fell upon the floor or against any wall. The defendant's testimony in substance is that as she pulled the bed and mattress in, Mrs. Liu was not present-she was in the kitchen feeding the baby.
The trial justice made the following findings of fact. The term of the lease began on August 15, 1966, for one year and defendant gave plaintiffs possession of the premises on August 13. He disregarded defendant's testimony that plaintiffs had orally agreed to let her use the stove to cook her food because that evidence was in derogation of the written lease. The defendant had no right to enter plaintiffs' premises to use the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
In re Berberian
...immediate bodily harm." Webbier v. Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, Inc., 105 R.I. 605, 614, 254 A.2d 285 (1969); Liu v. Sugarman, 105 R.I. 727, 254 A.2d 753 (1969). Here the evidence is conflicting as to the Plaintiff's location in the apartment and whether she was reasonably placed ......
-
Proffitt v. Ricci
...threatening nature or an offer of corporal injury which puts an individual in reasonable fear of imminent bodily harm. Liu v. Sugarman, 105 R.I. 727, 254 A.2d 753 (1969); Webbier v. Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, Inc., 105 R.I. 605, 254 A.2d 285 (1969); see Restatement (Second) Tort......
-
State v. Messa
...or an offer of corporal injury which puts an individual in reasonable fear of imminent bodily harm." Id.; see also Liu v. Sugarman, 105 R.I. 727, 254 A.2d 753 (1969). "Battery refers to an act that was intended to cause, and does cause, an offensive contact with or unconsented touching of o......