Whitaker Farms, LLC v. Fitzgerald Fruit Farms, LLC
| Docket Number | A23A0438 |
| Decision Date | 29 June 2023 |
| Parties | WHITAKER FARMS, LLC v. FITZGERALD FRUIT FARMS, LLC |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
In the second appearance of these parties before this Court Whitaker Farms, LLC appeals from a jury verdict granting punitive damages and attorney fees to Fitzgerald Fruit Farms LLC ("Fitzgerald Farms"). On appeal, Whitaker Farms asserts that the trial court committed evidentiary errors that allowed the jury to hear inadmissible evidence incorrectly directed the jury to take certain facts as established, when they were in fact in dispute; erroneously denied its motions for a directed verdict and for a new trial on punitive damages; erroneously allowed uncapped punitive damages; and incorrectly charged the jury in the first phase of the trial. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the jury's verdict as to punitive damages and associated attorney fees.
Following a jury trial, we construe the evidence in the light most favorable toward the prevailing party and resolve all conflicts against the non-prevailing party. Intl. Images, Inc. v. Smith, 171 Ga.App. 172, 172 (318 S.E.2d 711) (1984). As described in our previous opinion in this case, these parties proceeded to a jury trial after Fitzgerald Farms sued Whitaker Farms for trespass after Whitaker Farms's property manager locked the gates to the peach orchard where Fitzgerald Farms was harvesting peaches. Whitaker Farms, LLC v. Fitzgerald Fruit Farms, LLC, 347 Ga.App. 381 (819 S.E.2d 666) (2018) ("Whitaker I").
Briefly, the evidence at the first trial, as described in Whitaker I, showed that Sean Lennon, the owner of Fitzgerald Farms, had worked for Carroll Farms since high school, and began working for Carroll Farms full-time in 2003 after completing his education. 347 Ga.App. at 381. Carroll Farms was owned by Lennon's teacher and her son Walter "Hynes" Barnes. Id. Sometime in 2006, Hynes and his mother agreed to allow Lennon to grow Baby Gold peaches on a 20-acre tract of Carroll Farms. Id. The parties had an "oral handshake deal" for Lennon to lease the 20-acre tract for the economic life of the peaches (10-15 years). Id. At some point, a written lease was executed, and Lennon obtained crop insurance for at least 2013 to 2016. Id. &n. 1.
Unbeknownst to Lennon, in October 2015, Hynes sold 290 acres of Carroll Farms, including the 20-acre tract used by Lennon, to Curtis Whitaker ("Curtis") and his company, Whitaker Farms. Id. at 382. At closing, Hynes and his mother signed an affidavit stating that the property was subject to no leases. Id. Hynes stayed on to manage the property for Whitaker Farms. Id. After the sale, Lennon and his workers began to prepare to harvest the peaches on Lennon's 20-acre tract. Id. Lennon and his workers were on the property consistently from December 2015 through July 2016 and observed Hynes on the property, who never spoke to them. Id. On August 3, 2016, Lennon's crew moved equipment onto the property for the next day's harvest. Id. at 382-383. At some point the next day, the workers realized that all the gates to the orchard had been locked; Lennon's lock had been removed and replaced with a combination lock that Lennon's workers could not open. Id. at 383. Lennon's workers were locked inside the orchard. Id.
Lennon's workers contacted Lennon, who immediately texted Hynes to ask if he could unlock the gate. Id. Hynes advised that Lennon needed to contact Curtis, the new owner of the property, which Lennon did, leaving a voice mail asking Curtis to contact him. Id. Lennon also called the Sheriff's Office. Id. at 383. Hynes called Curtis himself to inform him that Lennon was trying to get into the orchard. Id. Curtis did not contact Lennon and did not respond to Lennon's call, believing Lennon to have no right to harvest peaches on the property. Id. at 383-384. Eventually, the sheriff cut the lock, allowing Lennon's workers to leave the property. Id. at 384. Fitzgerald Farms sought injunctive relief to access the orchard immediately to salvage the harvest, and Curtis executed an application for a criminal arrest warrant against Lennon to keep him off the property. Id. Fitzgerald Farms was granted a temporary restraining order to access the peaches, but the crop was ruined by the time the workers arrived. Id.
Fitzgerald Farms sued for trespass and attorney fees, seeking not less than $90,000 in actual damages and punitive damages. Id. at 384. Before the trial began, the trial court ruled that Fitzgerald Farms could not seek punitive damages against Whitaker Farms, reasoning that Curtis was not the person who locked Lennon's workers in the orchard,[1] and although he may have ratified Hynes's actions, that would not allow the jury to extrapolate a claim for punitive damages. Id. The jury found in favor of Fitzgerald Farms, awarding it $150,000 in compensatory damages and $400,000 in OCGA § 13-6-11 attorney fees, which was reduced by the trial court to $272,000. Id. at 384-385. Both parties appealed, and we affirmed the verdicts for liability and attorney fees, id. at 385-388 (1), (2), (3), but reversed the trial court's ruling that withdrew the issue of punitive damages from the jury, id. at 389 (4) (b). We found that the actions taken by Curtis, including keeping the gates locked while the peaches rotted and executing the arrest warrant application against Lennon, were "sufficient evidence of 'conscious indifference' to authorize a jury to award punitive damages." Id. at 389 (4) (b).
On remand, the parties prepared for a new trial on the issue of punitive damages. Whitaker Farms filed several motions in limine seeking to exclude certain evidence, including as relevant to this appeal (1) "evidence relating to any actions, events, or statements that occurred after the end of the purported lockout on August 4, 2016"; and (2) "evidence regarding settlement communications or discussions." Fitzgerald Farms sought to include facts established at the first trial to limit the issues for the jury at the second trial. Fitzgerald Farms argued that the facts as described in Whitaker I constituted the "law of the case" and Whitaker Farms could not use the second trial to relitigate facts concerning its liability.
The trial court held a hearing on these motions but reserved its ruling. Before trial, the court sent to counsel for both sides a draft of the findings from the previous trial and preliminary instructions it intended to read to the jury. Whitaker Farms objected to several of the trial court's proposed instructions. Before the trial began, the trial court ruled on the motions in limine. As relevant here, the trial court denied Whitaker Farms's motion to exclude evidence of events that occurred after the lockout, finding Curtis's actions to let the peach orchard rot after the conflict with Lennon to be relevant to his intent. The trial court also denied Whitaker Farms's motion to exclude a statement made by Curtis to Lennon during an alleged settlement negotiation. Throughout the discussion of Whitaker Farms's motions in limine, the parties discussed extensively what facts were found by the first jury and what could or could not be relitigated at the second trial.
At the opening of the trial, the court explained to the jury that there was a previous trial in the case, and what the verdict was in that trial, including the damages awarded to Fitzgerald Farms. The trial court explained:
Whether or not punitive damages should be awarded in this case is now a matter for this jury, in your sole discretion, to determine. In situations such as this, we are not required to retry the entire case and you have been empaneled to decide the limited issue of punitive damages and any issues related to the claim for punitive damages.
The court then read 27 facts that the jury was "to take to be factually correct without the need to hear additional testimony or evidence[.]" At the conclusion of the first phase of the trial, the jury found that Fitzgerald Farms was entitled to punitive damages. The case then proceeded to the second phase to determine the amount of punitive damages, with the jury returning a verdict of $500,000 in punitive damages for Fitzgerald Farms and indicating that attorney fees were warranted. The third phase of the trial was then initiated to determine the amount of attorney fees, which the jury found to be $200,000. This appeal followed.
1. Whitaker Farms contests the denial of two of its motions in limine.
(a) First, Whitaker Farms argues that the trial court erred in admitting statements made during a settlement conference. At trial, Lennon testified that, before his deposition, he met with Curtis one-on-one with their attorney's knowledge. Lennon expected that the two would "come away with an agreement, a settlement . . ." and asked if the two could just walk away from the dispute, each paying their own costs. After the conversation began cordially, Curtis reminded Lennon about Curtis seeking a criminal arrest warrant against Lennon for trespassing on his property, and told Lennon that he "thrived off this type of litigation" and had bankrupted a person in the past. Curtis also commented that Lennon had made him very angry and Curtis was going to make an example out of Lennon. Curtis testified that Lennon's account of the conversation was "unequivocally not true." Rather, Curtis stated that they reached a tentative agreement where Lennon would pay him annually for the orchard, but the deal never came to fruition.
Whitaker Farms argues that this testimony was inadmissible under OCGA § 244-408 (b) and OCGA § 24-4-403 because the discussion was not relevant to Curtis's intent at the time of the tortious action ...
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