Purvis v. Barnes, No. 1999-CT-00980-SCT.
Decision Date | 19 July 2001 |
Docket Number | No. 1999-CT-00980-SCT. |
Citation | 791 So.2d 199 |
Parties | Sammy R. PURVIS v. Macy L. BARNES and Dana A. Sanders. |
Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Stephen L. Beach, III, Jackson, Attorney for Appellant. David Wayne Baria, Attorney for Appellees.
EN BANC.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
DIAZ, Justice, for the Court:
¶ 1. Macy L. Barnes and Dana A. Sanders filed suit against Sammy R. Purvis in the Hinds County Chancery Court seeking damages for Purvis's interference with the sale of a parcel of real estate from Barnes to Sanders. After a trial, the chancellor voided the contract between Barnes and Purvis, finding that Purvis had fraudulently induced Barnes into entering into the contract. The chancellor further awarded Barnes and Sanders punitive damages against Purvis in the amount of $5,000 each, and attorney's fees in the amount of $12,230.51. The chancellor, however, did not make an award of compensatory damages.
¶ 2. The Court of Appeals found that the award of punitive damages and attorney's fees was improper because there had not been an award of compensatory damages. The Court of Appeals further found that Purvis had properly preserved the issue for appeal, even though he did not file any post trial motions, and reversed and rendered. Barnes and Sanders then filed their Petition for Writ of Certiorari which this Court granted. Because the matter regarding the award of punitive damages without an award of compensatory damages was never presented to the trial court, we reverse and render the decision of the Court of Appeals, and reinstate the judgment of the trial court.
FACTS
¶ 3. In its opinion, the Court of Appeals set forth the facts of the present case as follows:
Purvis v. Barnes, No.1999-CA-00980-COA at ¶¶ 3-8 (Miss.Ct.App. Aug. 1, 2000).
¶ 4. At the conclusion of the trial on this matter, the chancellor entered an order voiding the contract between Purvis and Barnes because it was fraudulently induced by Purvis. She also found that punitive damages were proper, even though she made no finding of actual damages, and ordered Purvis to pay punitive damages in the amount of $5,000 to Barnes and $5,000 to Sanders. In addition, the chancellor found that an award of attorney's fees was warranted in the amount of $12,230.51.
¶ 5. Purvis filed no post-trial motions, but rather simply filed a notice of appeal. The appeal was assigned to the Court of Appeals which found that the awards of punitive damages and attorney's fees were improper because there had not been an award of compensatory damages. The Court of Appeals further found that since the matter was tried before a chancellor without a jury, Purvis was not required to file any post-trial motions to preserve the issue for appeal, and therefore reversed and rendered. Barnes and Sanders then timely filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari which this Court granted.
ANALYSIS
¶ 6. In its opinion, the Court of Appeals correctly observed that an award of punitive damages is improper where there in no award of compensatory damages, and then went on to hold:
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