Opinion ID: 2630568
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Probability of Future Recurrence

Text: ¶ 21 It is on this ground that the argument for a substantial award of punitive damages is most compelling. While the standard of review for this factor, as for all the other factors, remains de novo, the trial court's detailed findings and its privileged position have provided the best argument for assessing substantial punitive damages against Knapp. The trial court found that Knapp demonstrated an incredibly arrogant and uncaring attitude on the stand when asked about the lies and half-truths propounded by Mr. Turner [at] his behest. Moreover, Knapp absented himself from the proceedings once the jury found that punitive damages were warranted; he did not attend the trial during the presentation of evidence or argument related to the amount of punitive damages. While Knapp's absence may bear a benign interpretation, it is certainly equally susceptible to that placed on it by the trial court, that he holds in contempt any legal procedure that would censure his conduct. [9] The trial court was concerned that a smaller award would not penalize Knapp sufficiently to deter him from repetition of his conduct. Knapp does not ordinarily, nor did he in this transaction, hold himself out as a real estate agent. The trial court observed that while Turner's surrender of his real estate license will prevent him from working as an agent, Knapp could continue to engage in real estate transactions despite the outcome of this case. ¶ 22 While it is true that the loss of the capacity to act as a real estate agent will affect Turner more dramatically than Knapp, it does not follow that the outcome of this case will not significantly affect Knapp's professional prospects. A judgment based on fraud will no doubt have some detrimental effect on Knapp's reputation in the relevant business communities as well as on his prospects for putting his recently completed law and business degrees to use. These consequences may give Knapp some pause before he chooses to pursue fraudulent courses of action in the future. In Campbell we considered State Farm's decades-long policy of fraudulent and dishonest policies and the difficulty of altering ingrained policies of corporate culture to be aggravating circumstances helping justify a more substantial award of punitive damages than we would ordinarily allow. Campbell, 2001 UT 89 at ¶ 41, 65 P.3d 1134. While mindful of the trial court's opportunity to observe Knapp and draw legitimate inferences from those observations, we are unconvinced that the possibility of Knapp's recidivism supports a result different from that which an analysis of the other six Crookston factors suggests.