Raffa v. Dania Bank, 78-957
| Decision Date | 18 July 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 78-957,78-957 |
| Citation | 372 So.2d 1173 |
| Parties | Nancy RAFFA, Appellant, v. The DANIA BANK et al., Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Harry G. Carratt of Morgan, Carratt & O'Connor, P. A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.
Clark J. Cochran, Jr., of Hainline & Billing, P. A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.
Plaintiff/appellant sued appellee, a bank, for the wrongful conversion of plaintiff's car. This is the second appearance of this controversy before this court. See Raffa v. Dania Bank, 321 So.2d 83 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975).
The case was tried on conflicting evidence before a jury on the claim of wrongful conversion and compensatory and punitive damages. At the conclusion of the trial the jury returned the following verdict:
The defendant filed a motion for judgment in accordance with its prior motion for directed verdict and a separate motion for new trial based on an alleged impropriety in the verdict. The court initially entered final judgment in plaintiff's favor for $25,000 punitive damages. Subsequently, the court reversed itself and granted the motion for judgment in favor of defendant in accordance with defendant's prior motion for directed verdict. Final judgment was entered in favor of defendant against the plaintiff. Defendant's motion for a new trial was never ruled upon in view of the grant of the motion for directed verdict.
The law is well settled that punitive damages require an underlying award of compensatory damages. McLain v. Pensacola Coach Corp., 152 Fla. 876, 13 So.2d 221 (1943); Sonson v. Nelson, 357 So.2d 747 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978). A verdict which finds no compensatory damages whatsoever and punitive damages of $25,000 is within this prohibition. At trial neither plaintiff nor defendant asked to have this improper verdict corrected while the jury was still impaneled and might have done so. Also, no party asked for an instruction to the effect that punitive damages could not be assessed without at least a finding of some compensatory damages nor did any party ask for an instruction to the jury on nominal damages.
On appeal plaintiff/appellant seeks to have the $25,000 punitive damages judgment reinstated and the defendant seeks affirmance of the directed verdict eventually entered in its favor. It should be noted that the defendant's directed verdict was not the result of the impropriety of the verdict. It was instead based on the trial court's finding that plaintiff's proofs had been lacking.
We hold the directed verdict in favor of the defendant to be erroneous. The jury found in favor of plaintiff on the issue of liability and there was evidence which, if believed, supported this verdict of liability. We thus reject defendant's contention and find the evidence was...
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Ault v. Lohr
...trial court properly granted a new trial since the issue of nominal damages had not been submitted to the jury. In Raffa v. Dania Bank, 372 So.2d 1173 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979), the jury found for the plaintiff in a conversion action, assessed no compensatory damages, but awarded $25,000 in punit......
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American Motorcycle Institute, Inc. v. Mitchell
...post-Lassiter decisions: Overseas Equipment Co., Inc. v. Aceros Arquitectonicos, 374 So.2d 537 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979); Raffa v. Dania Bank, 372 So.2d 1173 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); Flood v. Ware, 363 So.2d 1101 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978), cert. denied 372 So.2d 468 (Fla.1979); and Sonson v. Nelson, 357 So.2......
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Carida v. Holy Cross Hosp., Inc.
...compensatory or nominal damages, cannot stand. See Hauser Motor Co. v. Byrd, 377 So.2d 773 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); and Raffa v. Dania Bank, 372 So.2d 1173 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979). Standing alone, Count V is defective and a verdict thereon would be "fundamentally improper." See American Motorcycle ......
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Hauser Motor Co., Inc. v. Byrd
...if it does not find him liable for either compensatory or nominal damages. Sonson v. Nelson, (supra). Further in Raffa v. Dania Bank, 372 So.2d 1173 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979), the jury found for the plaintiff but assessed no compensatory damages, although punitive damages were assessed. The defen......