Opinion ID: 1200243
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The trial court properly submitted the issue of punitive damages to the jury.

Text: Appellants assert that the issue of punitive damages was improperly submitted to the jury. This type of error falls under I.R .C.P. 59(a)(7), error in law, occurring at trial. In actions seeking recovery of punitive damages, the claimant must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, oppressive, fraudulent, wanton, malicious or outrageous conduct by the party against whom the claim for punitive damages is asserted. I.C. § 6-1604(1) (1998). When reviewing the trial court's decision to submit the issue of punitive damages, the Court focuses on the sufficiency of the evidence. Student Loan Fund of Idaho, Inc. v. Duerner, 131 Idaho 45, 52, 951 P.2d 1272, 1279 (1998). The standard of review for punitive damages is to determine if the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the jury to consider punitive damages. Id. This Court has interpreted the abuse of discretion standard in the context of punitive damages as whether there was substantial evidence to support submitting the issue to the jury. Id. This Court has stated: An award of punitive damages will be sustained on appeal only when it is shown that the defendant acted in a manner that was an extreme deviation from reasonable standards of conduct, and that the act was performed by the defendant with an understanding of or disregard for its likely consequences. The justification of punitive damages must be that the defendant acted with an extremely harmful state of mind, whether that be termed malice, oppression, fraud or gross negligence; malice, oppression, wantonness; or simply deliberate or willful. Cheney v. Palos Verdes Inv. Corp., 104 Idaho 897, 905, 665 P.2d 661, 669 (1983) (citations omitted). Additionally, the primary purpose behind an award of punitive damages is to deter similar conduct from happening again in the future. Walston v. Monumental Life Ins. Co., 129 Idaho 211, 221, 923 P.2d 456, 465 (1996). The appellants' main argument is that individuals acting out of love and respective [sic] for our life-sustaining environment who had a good-faith belief that the Cove/Mallard ecosystem was being illegally harmed by the U.S. Forest Service, simply as a matter of law cannot be regarded as having a malicious state of mind such as could support any award of punitive damages. The appellants also assert that the omission of their affirmative defense instruction was a significant factor in the jury's award of punitive damages. The trial court determined that: Based on the record and trial proceedings, this Court believes there was sufficient evidence presented for a jury to find each defendants' conduct in physically interfering with the road-building activities of the plaintiff to be outrageous, wanton, or the likewhether such conduct is categorized as civil disobedience, direct action or monkey wrenching. Indeed, the record illustrates that the appellants were willing to engage in a variety of spiteful and willful acts to prevent the road building. The appellants pulled up stakes, caused delay, put nails in the road, spiked trees; all acts which can easily be categorized as wanton, malicious, deliberate and willful. The appellants acted in a manner that was an extreme deviation from normal standards of conduct. The appellants did not engage in peaceful protests, but in acts that attempted to hinder, delay and even harm. The justification of prevention of future conduct also exists in this case. Evidence was presented at trial that some appellants had met to organize a 1994 Cove/Mallard campaign. Clearly, the likelihood that this kind of conduct would occur again existed, thus bolstering the trial court's decision to submit the issue to the jury. The appellants' argument that their love of the environment makes acting with the state of mind necessary for a punitive damages award impossible is without merit. The ability to love and have warmth of feeling and concern for the environment does not absolve a person of the unreasonable and wilful conduct in which he or she engages. Even more, the fact that appellants have a great concern for the environment does not preclude them from the capacity to act in a way that is malicious. Additionally, the appellants assert that they were barred from putting on any evidence regarding the reasons for their action and thus could not prove that their conduct was not malicious. The appellants refer to their inability to bring into evidence the biologists' testimony and the EIS. This argument is without merit. Although appellants were barred from bringing in the specific technical evidence, they were never barred from expressing to the jury their love of the environment, their pure hearts in acting the way they did, and their belief that endangered species were being harmed. Last, we note that the appellants did not raise any other issues with regard to punitive damages that would allow this Court to address the amount of the award. As discussed at some length above, the appellants did not assert that the punitive damages were excessive under I.C.R.P. 59(a)(5) with respect to any appellants other than Prichard. Additionally, the appellants never raised the issue of whether the award of punitive damages violated due process standards based on the Supreme Court's decision in BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559, 116 S.Ct. 1589, 134 L.Ed.2d 809 (1996) and this Court's decision in Walston v. Monumental Life Ins. Co., supra . Although appellants stated in one line in their briefing to both this Court and the trial court that [a]s a matter of due process under the United States and Idaho Constitutions, the jury's entire punitive damages verdict must be stricken, this Court will not consider issues cited on appeal that are not supported by propositions of law, authority or argument. Meisner v. Potlatch Corp., 131 Idaho 258, 263, 954 P.2d 676, 681 (1998) (citing Saint Alphonsus Regional Med. Ctr. v. Bannon, 128 Idaho 41, 910 P.2d 155 (1995)). A one sentence statement regarding whether the award violates due process is hardly sufficient to constitute argument and, in addition, the appellants cite no authority. Thus, the appellants have left this Court with no ability to address the substantial punitive damages award as to anyone except Prichard. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's denial of the appellants' motion with regard to the submission of punitive damages to the jury.