White v. LeClerc

• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: BEVILACQUA
• Citation: White v. LeClerc, 422 A.2d 1256 (R.I. 1980)
• Decision Date: 10 December 1980
• Docket Number: No. 78-374-A,78-374-A
• Parties: Frederick C. WHITE, Jr., et al. v. Alfred LeCLERC et al. ppeal.

Page 1256

422 A.2d 1256

Frederick C. WHITE, Jr., et al. v. Alfred LeCLERC et al.

No. 78-374-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Dec. 10, 1980.

John D. Lynch, Gary R. Pannone, Warwick, for plaintiffs.

Stephen S. Lyman, Narragansett, Felix A. Appolonia, West Warwick, for defendants.

OPINION

BEVILACQUA, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal and cross-appeal from a judgment awarding $4,500 to the plaintiffs, Frederick and Anna White, as compensatory damages for four oak trees severed and carried away by agents of the defendants, Alfred and Madeline LeClerc. Both sides contend that the trial justice erred in determining the amount of the damage award. Additionally, defendants assert that the court clerk committed error in entering judgment against Mrs. LeClerc as well as Mr. LeClerc.

This matter was heard before a justice of the Superior Court sitting without a jury. Both plaintiffs and defendants presented expert witness testimony concerning the value of the trees. In his award of damages, the trial justice rejected defendants' expert witness's testimony because the expert had failed to include transportation, replanting, and other related expenses involved in replacing the trees. Moreover, the trial justice determined that the testimony of plaintiffs' expert witness was "grossly exaggerated." Nevertheless, the trial justice awarded $4,500 to plaintiffs as compensatory damages.

In determining the amount of the damage award, however, the trial justice failed to...