Opinion ID: 497009
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Specific Findings of Damages

Text: 37 On appeal, Self argues that the district court failed to make adequate findings of fact as required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 52 concerning various claims for damages. With regard to certain issues discussed below, we agree. Rule 52 requires that the trial court find the facts specially and state separately its conclusions of law thereon. [T]he findings must be specifically detailed to give [an appellate court] a clear understanding of the analytical process by which ultimate findings were reached and to assure us that the trial court took care in ascertaining the facts. Golf City, Inc. v. Wilson Sporting Goods Co., 555 F.2d 426, 433 (5th Cir.1977). This court cannot be left to guess. The findings and conclusions we review must be expressed with sufficient particularity to allow us to determine rather than speculate that the law has been correctly applied. Hydrospace-Challenger, Inc. v. Tracor/MAS, Inc., 520 F.2d 1030, 1034 (5th Cir.1975). 38 Although the district court's opinion is generally careful and thorough, it does fail to make sufficient findings to permit adequate review of Self's claims for damages. A remand for appropriate findings is the normal procedure. See Armstrong v. Collier, 536 F.2d 72, 77 (5th Cir.1976). A remand is not required if a complete understanding of the issues is possible in the absence of separate findings and if there is a sufficient basis for the appellate court's consideration of the merits of the case. Where the acts relied upon to support the judgment are in the record and are undisputed remand is unnecessary. Gulf Towing Co. v. Steam Tanker, AMOCO New York, 648 F.2d 242, 245 (5th Cir. Unit B June 1981). As discussed below, however, Great Lakes and Self disagree about the appropriateness of certain claims for damages. In this case, we think it more appropriate for the district court to make the initial findings on these claims, because that court has had the benefit of receiving first hand all of the evidence of the events leading to Danny Self's death.
39 The trial court made no findings or award of damages for conscious pain and suffering experienced by Danny Self before he died. Although the lower court's opinion makes no reference to pain and suffering, the record paints a vivid picture of the final moments of Self's life. According to Burke, the seaman who tried to save Self, men thrown into the water when the barge overturned were sucked under the water for what seemed like an eternity. Record, Volume 24, at 61. After Burke surfaced, Self then surfaced, and Burke saw that Self had no life jacket. Burke told Self to hold on to him, which Self did. Id. at 62. According to Burke, 40 we struggled more or less. For the most part, his feet were on my shoulders and I was kicking, trying to surface. He was on top of me. That's where we stayed. Then we hit the ship and that's when he lost it, or I lost him, however it worked out. We lost our grip on one another. I saw him leaving me. I tried to reach him, but the buoyancy of my jacket kept me up so I couldn't. And I just saw him slip under me.... I know the water was moving very swiftly.... It was cold. I don't know what the exact temperature was, but it was pretty icy to go overboard, I know that. 41 Id. at 62-64. It seems clear that Self was conscious for at least a few moments after the barge overturned and before Self and Burke lost their grip and sucked Self under the water to his death. 42 A damages award for conscious pain and suffering is appropriate, depending on the facts, in maritime wrongful death actions. See Hlodan v. Ohio Barge Line, 611 F.2d 71, 76 (5th Cir.1980); Dickerson v. Continental Oil Company, 449 F.2d 1209, 1216 (5th Cir.1971). In Hlodan, the evidence showed that for some undetermined number of minutes before his death Hlodan was aware of his predicament, and that his death by drowning was not instantaneous. 611 F.2d at 76. In Dickerson, the court wrote that if the decedent was conscious while in the water, ... then it must be without dispute that he did suffer some pain ... from the anguish of struggling against drowning. 449 F.2d at 1216. We think that in this case the district court should have made specific findings about pain and suffering damages to which Self may be entitled. See Lettsome v. United States, 411 F.2d 917, 923 (5th Cir.1969) (remanding for specific Rule 52(a) findings on pain and suffering in maritime injury case).
43 Similarly, the district court made no specific mention or findings about the seaworthiness of the dredge Alaska. It may be that the lower court factored a finding of unseaworthiness into the award of damages, or that the court found that the vessel was in fact seaworthy. Without any discussion of seaworthiness and of whether any unseaworthiness should enhance Great Lakes' liability to Self, however, we cannot adequately review the district court judgment. See Glapion v. MS Journalist, 487 F.2d 1252 (5th Cir.1973) (affirming specific findings concerning seaworthiness due to defect in ship, but remanding for specific findings concerning safety violation). In light of the district court's award of nonpecuniary damages to Self, we can almost assume that the court found the vessel to be unseaworthy. See Ivy v. Security Barge Lines, Inc., 606 F.2d 524 (5th Cir.1979) (en banc) (holding that nonpecuniary damages cannot be awarded under Jones Act). Rather than speculating, however, we prefer to allow the district court to state its findings clearly. 44 The record suggests that a finding of unseaworthiness would be plausible. Violations of safety regulations can lead to findings of unseaworthiness, see Manning v. M/V Sea Road, 417 F.2d 603 (5th Cir.1969), as can the failure to adequately train a ship's crew, see Hercules Carriers, Inc. v. Claimant State of Florida, 768 F.2d 1558 (11th Cir.1985). We leave to the district court on remand the determination in the first instance of questions of seaworthiness and possible enhancement of damages. See Farbwerke Hoeschst A.G. v. M/V Don Nicky, 589 F.2d 795 (5th Cir.1979) (remanding for specific findings on unseaworthiness and damages).
45 As with unseaworthiness, the lower court order is silent about punitive damages. Punitive damages should be available in cases where the shipowner willfully violated the duty to maintain a safe and seaworthy ship, as was found to exist on the part of Great Lakes by the district court, or where the shipowner's acts (or failures to act) recklessly increased the danger of a disaster. In this case, Great Lakes had been warned by local pilots' association about the possibility of the exact type of collision that occurred (involving a ship shearing into the barge), yet Great Lakes chose to ignore the warnings, and may not even have passed the warnings on to the crew of the dredge Alaska. Furthermore, Great Lakes' failure to maintain adequate safety devices and procedures on the Alaska may rise to the level of willfulness or recklessness. In light of these facts, we think that some specific determination about punitive damages must be made. We will leave the initial decision to the district court on remand. See Complaint of Merry Shipping, Inc., 650 F.2d 622 (5th Cir. Unit B July 1981) (remanding for findings on punitive damages).
46 Again, the lower court opinion is silent about prejudgment interest. In general, 47 prejudgment interest should be awarded in admiralty cases--not as a penalty, but as compensation for the use of funds to which the claimant was rightfully entitled. Discretion to deny prejudgment interest is created only when there are peculiar circumstances that would make it inequitable for the losing party to be forced to pay prejudgment interest. 48 Noritake Co. v. M/V Hellenic Champion, 627 F.2d 724, 728 (5th Cir. Unit 1980) (footnote and citations omitted). Although it is accepted practice to award prejudgment interest without making specific findings, see id. at 729, a denial of interest usually calls for specific findings. 49 [I]n any admiralty case in which the trial court refuses to award prejudgment interest, the best practice would be for it to detail the peculiar circumstance it has found, and specifically indicate that it is denying prejudgment interest as an exercise of the discretion created by the existence of peculiar circumstances. 50 Id. at 729 n. 4. In the absence of clear findings by the district court, an appellate court could search the record for peculiar circumstances and decide to award or deny prejudgment interest without a remand. See Noritake, 627 F.2d at 730 (awarding interest); Parker Towing Co. v. Yazoo River Towing, Inc., 794 F.2d 591, 594 (11th Cir.1986) (denying interest). In this case, however, because we are remanding to the district court for reconsideration of other possible awards of damages, we choose also to remand this question for explicit findings by the court below. 7