Opinion ID: 1186828
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Remittitur or New Trial.

Text: Appellants final point on appeal is that the trial court erred in denying their motion for a remittitur or a new trial. We have repeatedly held that the decision whether to order a remittitur or a new trial is one left to the sound discretion of the trial court. Interference by this court is not appropriate except in the most exceptional circumstances to prevent a miscarriage of justice. We must be left with a firm conviction on the whole record that the trial judge made a mistake in refusing to order a remittitur or grant a new trial. [30] We are firmly convinced that the trial judge made such a mistake. As we stated earlier in this opinion, there was no justification for the $10,000.00 award for a trespass. We have also held that since false arrest and false imprisonment are not separate torts, there was no basis for awarding $45,000.00 for false arrest and another $45,000.00 for false imprisonment. Deducting $10,000.00 and one of the $45,000.00 awards from the total damages award of $100,000.00, leaves the sum of $45,000.00 as the damages allowed Ailak for false arrest. This amount, awarded specifically as compensatory damages for the detention of Ailak, appears clearly excessive and without support in the evidence. No evidence of any physical injury to Ailak was presented. Since Ailak was retired, he lost no wages as a result of the emotional distress caused by the incident. The principal evidence of emotional distress presented at trial was the testimony of Dr. Ingle, who had seen Ailak for one or two visits of an hour or less. Even Ingle testified that Ailak would not permanently suffer physical symptoms of depression as a result of the incident. Ailak testified that he expected to be able to forget the incident. On the basis of such evidence, the refusal to order a remittitur of an award of $45,000.00 in compensatory damages for the detention was an abuse of the discretion. On remand, we direct the trial court to grant a remittitur or order a new trial limited to the issue of damages. Appellees are entitled to no award on the trespass count since we have held that, as a matter of law, the entry into the Ailak residence was privileged. Further, appellees are not entitled to one of the duplicate $45,000.00 awards. Finally, we direct the trial court, if a remittitur is granted and accepted, to determine what part of the remaining $45,000.00 award is excessive in light of the sparse evidence presented of actual damages due to the detention. In making this determination, which we believe should result in an award not in excess of $15,000.00, we assume that the trial court will consider that there was no evidence of malice or of abusive conduct on the part of the appellants and that the jury specifically found that the appellees were not entitled to punitive damages. REVERSED and REMANDED for proceedings not inconsistent with the views expressed in this opinion.