Spencer v. Steinbrecher

Decision Date10 December 1968
Docket NumberNo. 12741,12741
Citation152 W.Va. 490,164 S.E.2d 710
PartiesFreda Nolan SPENCER v. Howard STEINBRECHER.
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
Syllabus by the Court

1. The general rule with regard to proof of damages is that such proof connot be sustained by mere speculation or conjecture.

2. 'In proving compensatory damages, the standard or measure by which the amount may be ascertained must be fixed with reasonable certainty, otherwise a verdict

is not supported and must be set aside.' Pt. 3, syllabus, Rodgers v. Bailey, 68 W.Va. 186 (69 S.E. 698).

3. Where the plaintiff had the burden of proof in establishing the value of her car which had been converted by unlawful distress warrant obtained by automobile repair shop, the burden is not met by her unsupported testimony that she 'imagined' it was worth a certain amount.

4. 'A finding of compensatory damages by a jury is an indispensable predicate to a finding of exemplary or punitive damages, and damages awarded by way of punishment must bear a reasonable proportion to compensatory damages so found.' Pt. 3, syllabus, Toler v. Cassinelli, 129 W.Va. 591 (41 S.E.2d 672).

5. Punitive or exemplary damages are damages which together with and in reasonable proportion to the amount of compensatory damages will punish the defendant and in the judgment of the jury be sufficient to deter others from engaging in like course of conduct.

6. The portion of a verdict giving $10,000 punitive damages for unlawful conversion of plaintiff's automobile by an automobile repair shop does not bear a reasonable proportion to the portion of the verdict giving $400 compensatory damages for the value of the car, and shows prejudice on the part of the jury which cannot be cured by the plaintiff's remittitur of $5000 of the punitive portion.

7. Parties are bound by stipulation or agreements made by them in open court.

Jenkins, Schaub & Fenstermaker, John F. Wood, Jr., Huntington, for appellant.

Kenneth H. Fisher, Huntington, for appellee.

BERRY, President:

This action was instituted in the Circuit Court of Cabell County by the plaintiff, Freda Nolan Spencer, against the defendant, Howard Steinbrecher, for the wrongful conversion of the plaintiff's 1957 Ford automobile. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $400 compensatory damages and $10,000 punitive damages. The complaint asked only for $5000 as punitive damages and after the verdict the plaintiff moved the court to amend the complaint as to punitive damages in the amount of $10,000 to conform with the verdict. Before the court acted on this motion the plaintiff moved to be allowed to file a remittitur of $5000 and to have judgment entered for $5000 punitive damages. The court permitted the remittitur to be filed. The defendant's motion to set aside the verdict was then overruled by the court and judgment was entered for the plaintiff in the amount of $400 compensatory and $5000 punitive damages. On application to this Court an appeal was granted on March 25, 1968, to the judgment of the Circuit Court of Cabell County on December 20, 1967. The case was submitted for decision of this Court upon arguments and briefs of the respective parties at the September Regular Term 1968.

The case arose out of an automobile accident in Huntington, West Virginia, on August 19, 1965, in which the plaintiff's 1957 Fairlane Sedan automobile was struck in the front end by another automobile while the 1957 Ford was being operated by the plaintiff's son. The son was taken to a hospital and the police department, under an agreement or contract with the defendant, had the plaintiff's car towed to the Economy Garage which was operated by the defendant. The plaintiff, after visiting her son in the hospital and ascertaining he was not seriously injured, learned from the police officers at the hospital where her car had been taken and several hours later went to the garage to determine what to do about it. Darrell Steinbrecher, a son of the defendant, at the plaintiff's request, prepared an estimate of the cost of the repair to the plaintiff's car in the amount of $250 by the Economy Garage. The damage done to the plaintiff's car in the accident was to the front end. Considerable damage was done to the left front fender and bumper. She was advised at that time that the frame had not been damaged.

The plaintiff, at the time she received the estimate for repairs to her automobile, did not have the money with which to pay for such repairs and negotiations extended over a period of several months with the defendant or his son with regard to repairing her automobile. There is a conflict in the evidence with regard to what was said relative to the repairing the plaintiff's automobile during the period. The plaintiff's evidence was to the effect that an agreement was made that she would pay $100 down and $10 a month and that the down payment would not be due until the defendant had located used parts and of course if the car was repaired no storage charges would be made.

Some time after the discussion with regard to repairing the automobile the plaintiff stated that she told the defendant that she had seen a car like hers at a place not far away and suggested that he obtain the parts for the front end from that automobile. She stated that the defendant told her that the parts on the other car were rusted and that he did not want to put them on her car because it was in good condition. She testified that on several occasions she made it clear that she intended to have her car repaired because she had a new motor installed about three months before the accident at a cost of $450.81. She also stated that she had purchased four tires not long before the accident at $36 apiece and had had new seat covers installed in the car.

Some months after the car was placed in the defendant's garage the defendant's son called the plaintiff and told her the repairs would cost $350; that they had taken the motor out and found that the frame was bent. At that time she told them to fix it anyway. She stated that the defendant or his son told her that he might get a front end off another wrecked car which he had located in order to repair her car. On this occasion the plaintiff stated she heard the defendant or his son talking with some person over the telephone indicating that they had sold some parts off her automobile, because the statement was made not to sell anything else as the car was going to be repaired.

The plaintiff stated that she intended to pay for the repairs when she got a refund from her income tax return and that when she did receive this refund, some time in April, 1966, which was for almost the same amount as the repair bill, she went to the defendant's garage and offered to pay for the repairs in accordance with the agreement but that they would not take the money. It appears that on some occasions prior to the time the plaintiff stated she offered to pay for the repairs to her car, the defendant or his son had called her and offered to buy the car.

An action had been instituted by the plaintiff against the parties causing the damage to her automobile in the accident and the plaintiff's son either offered to testify or did testify at the trial that her automobile was damaged in the amount of $350. She obtained a verdict for $350 but settled the claim for $300.

Apparently nothing was done with regard to repairing the plaintiff's automobile for several months after she made the offer to pay for the repairs from the tax refund she received, although she apparently expected the defendant to make the repairs to her automobile. However, when her son went to the garage to look at the car he was unable to find it. The plaintiff then called the garage and was told that her car had been moved to another lot which was apparently a wrecking or salvage lot owned by the defendant under another name. She found her car on that lot, and it was in the process of being dismantled. The rear door was gone, the trunk lid removed, a wheel gone, glass broken, the radio was gone, wires in the car pulled out and the motor was not the one she had bought for the car because it had a different serial number.

The plaintiff then demanded an explanation from the defendant with regard to the matter at which time he stated at first that he did not know anything about her automobile. She then accused him of violating the law in selling parts from her car when he did not have a title at which time he replied that he did have a title. This caused considerable argument between them and the defendant then advised her that he had sold her car under a distress warrant. She demanded that the car be put back in the same condition it was in before the parts were removed.

It appears that the defendant's son made an affidavit before a justice of the peace on March 18, 1966, that he did not know who the owner of the plaintiff's car was and obtained a distress warrant for the sale of this car in the name of John Doe as the owner in favor of the defendant as owner of the Economy Garage, for storage and towing charges of $85, for a lien. A constable sold the plaintiff's car on March 28, 1966, to the Economy Garage for $85. The plaintiff knew nothing whatsoever about this entire transaction. The evidence shows that the defendant had caused numerous cars to be sold over a period of from 15 to 20 years under distress warrants by this same fictitious method. The cars would apparently be bought by him to satisfy alleged towing and storage charges. The plaintiff's evidence was corroborated in many instances by both her husband and her son.

The defendant's evidence contradicted that of the plaintiff in many respects and a witness who worked for the defendant but was on unfriendly terms with the plaintiff as her neighbor testified that the plaintiff had not offered the money to the defendant for the repairs to her car...

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  • State v. Nichols, 26009.
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of West Virginia
    • December 3, 1999
    ...with 30 years experience had special knowledge relative to the fair market value of damaged items); Spencer v. Steinbrecher, 152 W.Va. 490, 497, 164 S.E.2d 710, 715 (1968) (deciding an owner may give opinion of values of personal property where it is not based on speculation); Syl. pt. 7, S......
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    ...and in the judgment of the jury be sufficient to deter others from engaging in like course of conduct." Syllabus Point 5, Spencer v. Steinbrecher, 152 W.Va. 490, 164 S.E.2d 710 (1968). 4. In an appropriate case punitive damages may be recovered in an action for wrongful 5. A rule permitting......
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