Shepherd v. Puzankas
Decision Date | 01 February 1966 |
Docket Number | No. 16336.,16336. |
Citation | 355 F.2d 863 |
Parties | Phyllis K. SHEPHERD and Douglas T. Shepherd, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. John P. PUZANKAS, Defendant-Appellant. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
R. Hunter Cagle, Knoxville, Tenn. (Arthur D. Byrne, Thearon Chandler, Knoxville, Tenn., on the brief; Poore, Cox, Baker & McAuley, Knoxville, Tenn., of counsel), for appellant.
Creed A. Daniel, Rutledge, Tenn. (W. I. Daniel, Rutledge, Tenn., on the brief; Daniel & Daniel, Rutledge, Tenn., of counsel), for appellees.
Before EDWARDS, Circuit Judge, CECIL, Senior Circuit Judge, and KENT, District Judge.
This appeal arises out of an automobile accident which occurred on U. S. Highway 11W, in the state of Tennessee, on April 28, 1963. The plaintiff-appellee, Phyllis K. Shepherd, was driving her automobile west on the highway at the time and place of the accident. John P. Puzankas, defendant-appellant, traveling east on the highway, lost control of his automobile and collided with the Shepherd automobile in its lane of traffic.
Phyllis Shepherd and her husband, Douglas T. Shepherd, were residents of Texas. John P. Puzankas, hereinafter called the defendant, was a resident of New York. The Shepherds brought an action against the defendant in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Northern Division. Jurisdiction was based on diversity of citizenship. (Section 1332(a), Title 28, U.S.C.) The case was tried to a jury and resulted in a verdict of $25,000 for Phyllis Shepherd, and a verdict of $2000 for her husband. The defendant appealed.
It is further alleged that the defendant operated his motor vehicle "in open, willful and flagrant violation of certain statutes1 of the State of Tennessee."
There was evidence in the record that the highway was wet and slick and that the defendant was traveling at a high rate of speed, that he passed three cars and that he cut back in his lane of traffic just ahead of a car immediately ahead of the Shepherd automobile. It was at this point that he lost control of his car and crossed into the lane of the oncoming Shepherd vehicle. The trial judge instructed the jury, "(I)f you find that this defendant was guilty of willful, wanton, gross negligence you have the right to assess what is known in the law as punitive damages." He then correctly explained gross negligence and punitive damages.
Objection is made on behalf of the defendant that the court erred in instructing the jury that it had the right to assess punitive damages. In support of this objection, it is claimed that the proof did not sustain such a charge and that the plaintiffs did not contend in their complaint, the pretrial order or upon the trial that the defendant was guilty of gross negligence or that they were entitled to punitive damages.
The language of the complaint is broad enough to cover a charge of gross negligence and there is ample evidence in the record to support such a charge. There is nothing in the pretrial order which would prohibit an instruction on gross negligence and punitive damages. Under the law of Tennessee where gross negligence is pleaded and there is evidence to support it, the question of punitive damages is properly submitted to the jury. In American Lead Pencil Co. v. Davis, 108 Tenn. 251, 254, at page 255, 66 S.W. 1129, at page 1130, the court said:
"Gross negligence, then, is undoubtedly one ground for the allowance of punitive or exemplary damages; * * *"
See also Memphis Street Railway v. Shaw, 110 Tenn. 467, 478, 75 S.W. 713; Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Co. v. Hill, 110 Tenn. 396, 406, 75 S.W. 963; Lazenby v. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co., 214 Tenn. 639, 646, 383 S.W.2d 1; Caccamisi v. Thurmond, 39 Tenn.App. 245, 270, 282 S.W.2d 633.
In Caccamisi v. Thurmond, heretofore cited, at p. 272, 282 S.W.2d at p. 646, the court quoted from Baker v. Bates, 4 Tenn.Civ.App. 175, as follows:
Assuming that the trial judge was in error in instructing the jury on punitive damages, it was a harmless error and did not affect the substantial rights of the defendant. Rule 61 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. American Lead Pencil Co. v. Davis, supra, 108 Tenn. at 257, 66 S.W. 1129; Butler v. Barrett & Jordan, C.C., 130 F. 944, 949; Philadelphia & W. C. Traction Co. v. Kordiyak, 171 F. 315, 318, C.A. 3; Sucher Packing Co. v. Manufacturers Casualty Ins. Co., 245 F.2d 513, 522, C.A. 6, cert. den. 355 U.S. 956, 78 S.Ct. 541, 2 L.Ed.2d 531; Gillis v. Keystone Mut. Casualty Co., 172 F.2d 826, 830, 11 A.L. R.2d 455, C.A. 6, cert. den. 338 U.S. 822, 70 S.Ct. 67, 94 L.Ed. 499; E. I. Dupont De Nemours & Co. v. Wright, ...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Springston v. Consolidated Rail Corp.
...outcome of the case, as evidenced by the jury's response to the interrogatory addressing the negligence of Conrail. Shepherd v. Puzankas, 355 F.2d 863, 865 (6th Cir.1966) (argument of error as to jury instruction mooted by ultimate response of jury). Interrogatory number two asked "[o]f wha......
-
Stengel v. Belcher
...trial court's discretion. On appeal, this court considers only whether the trial court has abused its discretion. Shepherd v. Puzankas, 355 F.2d 863, 865 (6th Cir. 1966); Kroger Co. v. Rawlings, 251 F.2d 943, 945 (6th Cir. Noe's estate recovered $9,000 in compensatory damages, Ruff's estate......