Court Opinion

ID: 9747992
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 15:47:27.891285+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:30.165611
License: Public Domain

BENKE, J.
I respectfully dissent. I agree the trial court erred in admitting evidence concerning and allowing the jury to award damages for emotional distress. I do not agree that doing so was harmless.
Cathy Bishop was a young person. Indeed, she was so young it was necessary her parents sign the purchase contract. Bishop testified the loss of use of her car had a serious effect on her life. She was unable to continue with school since she was without transportation. She was unhappy with the need to make payments on a car she could not use. Bishop stated the lack of a vehicle, the result of Hyundai’s unreasonableness, resulted in a loss of independence to such a degree she eventually did not want to go out. Bishop sought medical care for her lack of sleep and weight loss that she attributed to the stress of dealing with Hyundai. Bishop’s doctor recommended she drop out of school. In argument Bishop’s counsel noted the car was the first one she had purchased, noted Bishop’s youth, argued the incident affected Bishop’s sense of independence, caused her to leave school and resulted in a level of stress that required medical attention.
I conclude it is reasonably probable that had the trial court not admitted evidence concerning the life altering emotional distress suffered by Bishop, Hyundai would have received a more favorable result. My particular concern is with the jury’s award of the maximum civil penalty. The jury awarded stipulated damages of $8,312.18, emotional distress damages of $5,000, loss of use damages of $17,223 and incidental damages of $1,444. The jury then awarded the maximum civil penalty allowed under the act, twice the total damages. The result was an award of $95,937.54.
While my colleagues, in eliminating the award for emotional distress and loss of use, have reduced the damages considerably, they retain the award of the maximum civil penalty by trebling the damages that remain. Evidence concerning the emotional suffering of a young person obviously has a great *762capacity to affect a jury’s view of a case. In the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act context the jury is given little if any guidance concerning the factors relevant to determining the amount of the civil penalty. The jury is merely told if it finds the defendant’s failure to comply with the act was willful, it may include an award for a civil penalty in any amount not exceeding twice the amount awarded as compensatory damages. Here the jury imposed the maximum civil penalty allowed. It is reasonable to believe the erroneous admission of emotional distress evidence affected the jury’s evaluation of damages and the civil penalty in particular. I believe the erroneous admission of evidence concerning Bishop’s emotional distress was prejudicial and the judgment should be reversed. (See Pool v. City of Oakland (1986) 42 Cal.3d 1051, 1069 [232 Cal.Rptr. 528, 728 P.2d 1163].)