Case Name: WALT BENNETT FORD, INC. v. Richard Randall KECK
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Arkansas
Decision Date: 1989-04-17
Citations: 298 Ark. 424
Docket Number: 88-148
Parties: WALT BENNETT FORD, INC. v. Richard Randall KECK
Judges: Special Justice Sam Ed Gibson joins in this opinion.
Reporter: Arkansas Reports
Volume: 298
Pages: 424–432

Head Matter:
WALT BENNETT FORD, INC. v. Richard Randall KECK
88-148
768 S.W.2d 28
Supreme Court of Arkansas
Opinion delivered April 17, 1989
Wallace, Dover & Dixon, by. Suzanne Antley and David A. Couch, for appellant.
Steven R. Davis, for appellee. :

Opinion:
Vincent Foster, Jr., Special Justice.
Appellant, Walt Bennett Ford, Inc., having completed warranty repairs on a Yugo automobile owned by appellee, Richard Keck, declined to surrender the Yugo to Keck due to his refusal to pay rental charges for a substitute automobile appellant provided him to use while his Yugo was being repaired. Keck sued for conversion of the Yugo, and the jury returned a verdict against appellant for both compensatory and punitive damages, from which appellant appeals. Appellant contends that the trial judge erred in allowing the introduction of certain evidence and in submitting the issue of punitive damages to the jury and argues alternatively the punitive award was excessive. We affirm.
In October 1986, Keck purchased the Yugo automobile from appellant, an automobile dealer. Mechanical and other defects immediately developed, and Keck took it back to the appellant for repair on at least two occasions. Both times the appellant provided Keck an automobile to use while the Yugo was being repaired. On the first occasion it is undisputed there was no charge for the substitute automobile. On the second occasion Keck testified he told a representative of the dealer that he would be out of state for six to eight weeks and he needed a "loaner" automobile to use while the Yugo was being repaired. He testified that he was told there would be no chargé for the "loaner" automobile. Appellant disputed this testimony. On both occasions Keck signed a lease agreement form but he testified the form was blank when he signed it and that he was told the form was necessary only to waive liability insurance on the substitute automobile. When Keck returned to pick up his Yugo seven weeks later, in late December, the dealer's agents demanded $1,200 in rent for use of the substitute automobile. Upon Keck's refusal to pay, the demand was reduced to $360 rental, calculated to cover the time which the dealer contended the Yugo had been repaired and available to be picked up. Keck testified he had not received prior notice the automobile was ready and he refused to pay the reduced demand. Because of Keck's refusal to pay rental, the appellant declined to surrender the Yugo and its service manager told Keck that appellant would keep the automobile until Keck paid the rental claimed. Keck left the dealership on foot.
It is undisputed that all repairs to the Yugo were warranty repairs, that Keck owed the dealer nothing for the repairs, and that the lease agreement form for the substitute automobile did not grant the dealer a possessory lien on the automobile being repaired.
In response to Keck's claim for conversion of his Yugo, appellant filed a general denial and counterclaimed for rental on the substitute automobile. The jury held for Keck on the counterclaim and awarded him $6,337.33 in compensatory damages and $25,000 in punitive damages on the conversion claim.
Appellant contends evidence introduced regarding the defects of the Yugo and attempts at repairs was irrelevant to the elements of conversion and inflamed the jury. Rule 401 of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence defines "relevant evidence" as "evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence." Appellant's counterclaim for rental directly placed in issue whether or not Keck had agreed to pay rental on the substitute automobile. Keck testified that when he delivered the Yugo for repair on the second occasion he was initially told that the dealer could not give him a "loaner" vehicle but that a rental unit was available. Keck testified that because of all the problems he had had with the Yugo he was adamant with the dealer that he was not going to pay for a rental car and that the dealer's representative agreed. The testimony concerning the mechanical problems and repair attempts tended to make Keck's version of the discussions regarding the substitute automobile, including the dealers' acquiescence in Keck's unwillingness to agree to pay rental, more probable than if the jury had considered the issue without knowing the history of prior problems experienced by Keck.
Appellant contends the evidence should have been excluded under Rule 403 of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence even if it were relevant. Rule 403 permits the trial court to exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice or other specified considerations. The balancing of the probative value against prejudice from evidence is within the discretion of the trial judge, and his decision on such a matter will not be reversed absent an abuse of that discretion. Simpson v. Hart, 294 Ark. 41, 740 S.W.2d 618 (1987); Wood v. State, 20 Ark. App. 61, 724 S.W.2d 183 (1987). The admission of the challenged evidence did not constitute an abuse of discretion, and some of the testimony complained of was invited during cross-examination by appellant's counsel.
Appellant next contends that the trial court erred in submitting the issue of punitive damages to the jury and that the jury's award of punitive damages was unsupported by the evidence. Appellant does not argue the sufficiency of the evidence to establish liability for willful conversion.
In Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Herring, 267 Ark. 201, 589 S.W.2d 584 (1979), the appellant lender had financed the sale of two pickup trucks and had peacefully repossessed the trucks upon the buyer's default on monthly payments. But despite demand the lender had not promptly returned personal property which was stored in the trucks at the time of the repossession. Upon the debtor's suit for conversion of the personalty, the jury awarded $2,000 in actual damages and $17,000 in punitive damages. The appellant asserted that the trial court erred in instructing the jury regarding punitive damages since there was no evidence of force, oppression, or intimidation in connection with the repossession. This Court held:
Exemplary damages are proper where there is an intentional violation of another's right to his property. Kelly v. McDonald, 39 Ark. 387 (1882); Ft. Smith I. & S. Mills v. So. R. B. P. Co., 139 Ark. 101, 213 S.W. 21 (1919); and Parks v. Thomas, supra. In view of the evidence previously recited, we hold that, although the taking was proper, the retention of the personalty after demand for its return constituted a submissible fact question on the issue of punitive damages.
Herring at 206-07, 589 S.W.2d at 588. This Court also affirmed the sufficiency of evidence to uphold a punitive damages award for conversion of appellee's automobile in Williams v. O'Neal Ford, Inc., 282 Ark. 362, 668 S.W.2d 545 (1984).
In Shepherd v. Looper, 293 Ark. 29, 732 S.W.2d 150 (1987), the appellant admitted having possession of appellee's commercial fishing nets but claimed he was keeping them to ensure the recovery of nets of his own, pursuant to an alleged agreement with appellee. The jury rejected the explanation, and this Court held the evidence was sufficient to support the award of punitive damages.
The trial court instructed the jury on Keck's claim for punitive damages that he "has the burden of proving that Walt Bennett Ford intentionally pursued a course of conduct for the purpose of causing damage." This instruction presented one of the two alternative descriptions of conduct in AMI Civil 2d 2217 (Revised) which can justify an award of punitive damages. Appellant's objection was not to the form of the instruction but rather to the sufficiency of evidence to support the submission of the issue of punitive damages to the jury.
Appellant's conduct of retaining the Yugo even through the trial, thirteen months after the demand for surrender, without any claim of mistake or privilege or other legal right to do so, presents a submissible issue on punitive damages. The jury reasonably could have concluded that appellant withheld Keck's property, his means of transportation, with the intent of causing him such inconvenience and damage that he would be coerced into the payment of a questionable debt. Appellant continued this course of conduct even after it was sued for conversion, obtained legal counsel and filed a counterclaim for the disputed rental. The evidence is sufficient to support a finding of intent to cause damage.
Appellant contends in the alternative that the puni tive award was excessive, given under the influence of passion and prejudice. The issue of whether the punitive award was motivated by passion or prejudice was submitted to the trial court by appellant in a motion for new trial under Rule 59 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure. The trial court denied the motion. Considerable discretion is given to the jury in fixing punitive damages in an amount it deems appropriate to the circumstances. First National Bank of Brinkley v. Frey, 282 Ark. 339, 343, 668 S.W.2d 533, 536 (1984). While the award of punitive damages is substantial, it is not so great as to indicate the jury was influenced by passion or prejudice. The amount of the punitive award is supported by substantial evidence, including the relationship between the parties and the extent and duration of the appellant's exercise of dominion over the personalty, and we do not find it excessive under the facts presented, reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. Schaeffer v. McGhee, 286 Ark. 113, 689 S.W.2d 537 (1985); Schuster's, Inc. v. Whitehead, 291 Ark. 180, 722 S.W.2d 862 (1987).
Affirmed.
Special Justice Sam Ed Gibson joins in this opinion.
Glaze, J., concurs.
Special Justice Robert L. Jones, Jr., dissents.
Purtle, Hays, and Newbern, JJ., not participating.