Richardson v. Donald Hawkins Const.
| Decision Date | 09 February 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 26575.,26575. |
| Citation | 673 S.E.2d 808 |
| Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | James S. RICHARDSON and Karolina M. Richardson, Petitioners, v. DONALD HAWKINS CONSTRUCTION, INC., Donald Hawkins, Sharon Preu, as Personal Representative for the Estate of Joseph Taylor and James Hodge, Defendants, Of Whom Donald Hawkins Construction, Inc. and Donald Hawkins are, Respondents. |
Steven Smith McKenzie, of Manning, for Petitioners.
Kenneth R. Young, Jr., of Sumter, for Respondents.
Respondents have filed a petition for rehearing. The petition for rehearing is denied. The original opinion, however, is hereby withdrawn and the attached opinion is substituted in its place.
s/Jean H. Toal, C.J
s/John H. Waller, Jr., J
s/Costa M. Pleicones, J
s/John W. Kittredge, J
s/Larry B. Hyman, Jr., A.J
We granted petitioners' request for a writ of certiorari to review the Court of Appeals' opinion in Richardson v. Donald Hawkins Constr., Inc., 370 S.C. 125, 634 S.E.2d 9 (Ct.App.2006). We reverse.
Petitioners James and Karolina Richardson purchased a house from respondents Donald Hawkins Construction and Donald Hawkins in 1999. After moving in, petitioners noticed several cosmetic and structural problems with the house. Initially, respondents sent a representative to repair the problems, but as the problems persisted, respondents stopped responding to petitioners' service requests. In February 2001, petitioners retained legal counsel who contacted respondents by letter about completing the home repairs. Counsel's letter demanded a response by March 7, 2001; respondents never answered the letter.
On March 12, 2001, petitioners' residence was severely damaged by a fire that investigators concluded was intentionally set.
On May 21, 2002, the police questioned Joseph Taylor about the arson. Taylor, an employee of respondent Hawkins, gave the police a written statement in which he claimed to have overheard Hawkins ask another coworker, James Hodge, to burn down petitioners' house because petitioners were threatening to sue him due to the problems with the house ("Statement One"). According to Statement One, Hodge later told him Hawkins offered him $2,000 to burn the house down; a few days later, Taylor learned that Hodge had set the fire but had not succeeded in burning the entire house down.
Due to investigators' suspicions that Taylor was more involved in the arson than he revealed in Statement One, he was interviewed again later that afternoon. Following this interview, Taylor submitted another written statement to the police ("Statement Two"). In Statement Two, Taylor admitted that Hawkins approached both him and Hodge and offered them $2,000 to burn down petitioners' house. While Taylor acted as lookout, Hodge crawled under the house and ignited a jug filled with flammable liquid. The following day, Hodge told Taylor that, because the house was not completely destroyed, Hawkins gave him only $1,000. Taylor claimed he did not get any money for his role as lookout.
Two days after giving the police the written statements, Taylor wrote and signed the following statement ("Statement Three") before two witnesses and a notary:
I Joseph Taylor has [sic] never been paid by Donnie Hawkins for doing anything illeagle [sic]. Donnie paided [sic] me for subcontracting carpentry work only. I have never heard or seen him pay anyone to do anything illeagle [sic]!
According to Taylor's mother, Sharon Preu, Taylor visited her shortly after being questioned by the police and told her that the statements he had made to police were "all a lie." During trial, Preu's testimony was proffered. Preu stated that Taylor told her the police "had him in Sumter all day long and ... cussed at him." According to Preu, Taylor said he was promised no jail time if he confessed, so he told police that he "and Mr. Hodge had done it and that it was all a lie, that they had offered him two years probation if he was to go along with it." ("Statement Four").
Petitioners consented to having all criminal charges regarding the arson dropped in order to pursue a civil case. Thereafter, a civil suit was filed against Taylor, Hodge, Hawkins, and Donald Hawkins Construction, Inc. Taylor was served a summons and complaint, but he failed to file an answer. In May 2003, petitioners filed an affidavit of default as to defendant Taylor. In January 2004, before the case went to trial, Taylor died in an unrelated automobile accident.
In September 2004, the trial court ruled on several pre-trial matters, including the admissibility of Statements One, Two, and Three. First, the trial court ruled on the status of petitioners' case against Taylor's estate, represented after his death by Preu. The trial court found that Taylor's default prior to his death put the estate in the procedural posture of having admitted all of the allegations contained in the complaint. As to Statements One and Two, the court found them admissible against the remaining defendants under the statements against interest exception to hearsay described in Rule 804(b)(3), SCRE.1 As to Statement Three, however, the circuit court excluded Taylor's own written statement under Rule 403, SCRE. The circuit court concluded that the probative value of the written statement was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice because, due to his default, Taylor was deemed to have admitted all allegations in the complaint.2
At trial, the defense proffered the testimony of Preu concerning Taylor's statements to her after he had been questioned by police (i.e., Statement Four). Petitioners objected on hearsay grounds, and the trial court found the statement did not fall within a hearsay exception. The trial court further stated that Taylor's statements to Preu simply were denials of his involvement in the arson and thus, ruled them inadmissible.
At the conclusion of trial, the jury found the defendants liable and awarded petitioners $84,758 in actual damages and $150,000 in punitive damages against Hawkins Construction; $5,500 in actual damages and $5,000 in punitive damages against Hodge; and $5,500 in actual damages and $250,000 in punitive damages against Hawkins.3 The jury did not award petitioners any damages against Taylor's estate.
Only Respondents Donald Hawkins Construction, Inc. and Hawkins appealed from the jury's verdict. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial.
The Court of Appeals based its reversal on Rule 806, SCRE.4 Because Taylor's first two statements were admitted under hearsay rules 801 and 804, the Court of Appeals concluded that "[p]ursuant to Rule 806 and basic concepts of fairness," the defense should have been allowed to impeach Taylor with evidence that was inconsistent with Statements One and Two. Richardson, 370 S.C. at 130, 634 S.E.2d at...
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...discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion. Richardson v. Donald Hawkins Const., Inc., 381 S.C. 347, 352, 673 S.E.2d 808, 811 (2009); Jamison v. Ford Motor Co., 373 S.C. 248, 268, 644 S.E.2d 755, 765 (Ct. App. 2007). In this case, the tri......
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