Court Opinion

ID: 9518459
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 00:53:16.936481+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:29:06.666241
License: Public Domain

BROOK, Judge,
concurring
I concur wholeheartedly with the majority’s reasoning and result, but write separately to emphasize that a predominant number of states have already recognized what the majority today recognizes: that a “law which allows the fortuitous circumstance of death to insulate a defendant from liability for punitive damages” and which sends a clear message that it is cheaper to kill than to injure is intolerable. See Forte v. Connerwood Healthcare, Inc., 702 N.E.2d 1108, 1117, n. 7 (Ind.Ct.App. 1998), trans. granted, 714 N.E.2d 172 (1999); see also Prosser and Keeton, Torts § 127, at 945 (5th ed.). Indeed, sixteen states have rejected as absurd the proposition that punitive damages should be disallowed simply because their wrongful death statutes do not expressly provide for such recovery,11 and an additional twelve states *366have eliminated any doubt on this issue by enacting wrongful death statutes that expressly' authorize the recovery of punitive damages.12 See Michael D. Moeller, Comment, Punitive Damages in Wrongful Death Actions: How Will Kansas Respond?, 39 U.KaN.L.Rev. 199 (1990) (nationwide survey of wrongful death statutes and their treatment of punitive damages).
These authorities have reached such a conclusion on the basis that the purpose behind the imposition of punitive damages, namely the punishment of the wrongdoer and the deterrence of future acts, is unaffected by the death of the injured party. See Jay M. Zitter, Annotation, Claim for Punitive Damages in Tort Action as Surviving Death of Tortfeasor or Person Wronged, 30 A.L.R.4th 707, 710, 1984 WL 263451 (1984); see also United Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Ira, 577 N.E.2d 588, 596 (Ind.Ct.App.1991) (purpose of punitive damages), trans. denied. “If wrongful conduct is to be deterred by the award of punitive damages, that policy should not be thwarted because the wrongdoer succeeds in killing his victim.” Gavica v. Hanson, 101 Idaho 58, 608 P.2d 861, 864 (1980), overruled on other grounds by Sterling v. Bloom, 111 Idaho 211, 723 P.2d 755 (1986).13 To hold otherwise would violate the well-settled precept that we avoid a statutory construction producing an absurd result. See id.; see also Chavis v. Patton, 683 N.E.2d 253, 259 (Ind.Ct.App. 1997) (statutes are to be construed to pre*367vent any absurdity or result the legislature, as a reasonable body, could not have intended). It would further force this Court to engage in legal gymnastics to justify an anomalous rule that punishes a defendant for acts resulting in less grievous injuries and protects him when the same acts result in death. Death of the injured party is not and should not be the “death” of punitive damages.
As so poignantly articulated by the Utah Supreme Court,
[the argument that punitive damages should be prohibited when the wrongful death statute does not specifically allow them] would make sense in states ... that do not allow punitive damages at all. But it makes no sense for a state that allows punitive damages for a wilful [sic ], wanton, malicious, reckless or grossly negligent tort that results in personal injury, emotional anguish, or property damage, to deny such punitive damages where the injury victim happens to die. Death is, after all, the final injury^ — the ultimate insult. Such a result defies logic and distorts symmetry in the law.
Behrens v. Raleigh Hills Hospital, 675 P.2d 1179, 1185 (Utah 1983). The Arkansas Supreme Court echoed those sentiments in concluding that
the purpose of punitive damages is not to compensate the injured party but to impose a monetary penalty on the defendant and to discourage others from similar behavior. That purpose is unquestionably the same whether the injured person lives or dies as a result of the defendant’s willful or wanton conduct. In fact, in such situations where a death ensues, it may be argued plausibly that punitive damages, considering their deterrent effect, are more readily justified.
Vickery v. Ballentine, 293 Ark. 54, 56, 732 S.W.2d 160, 162 (1987); see also, e.g., Tommy’s Elbow Room, Inc. v. Kavorkian, 727 P.2d 1038, 1048-49 (Alaska 1986) (unlikely that legislature intended that person injured by negligent defendant would recover punitive damages but that estate of one killed by such defendant would not, when purpose of punitive damages is deterrence); Bond v. City of Huntington, 166 W.Va. 581, 593, 276 S.E.2d 539, 545 (1981) (deterrence principle of punitive damages is perfectly compatible with wrongful death claim and perhaps even more appropriate than in actions for less severe injuries), superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in Rice v. Ryder, 184 W.Va. 255, 400 S.E.2d 263 (1990); Martin v. United Sec. Servs., Inc., 314 So.2d 765, 771 (Fla.1975) (difficult to accept proposition that legislature intended tortfeasors to be punished for malicious and reckless acts when they maim another but not when those same acts result in death of victim). Likewise, it would be contrary to principles of both logic and equity for this Court to “perpetuate the adage that it is cheaper to kill than to maim.” See Op. at 363.
Defendants argue that existing Indiana precedent precludes an award of punitive damages in wrongful death actions. Even so, we must also “honor our duty to scrupulously investigate the wisdom of our precedents established previously and if a rule announced in an opinion works an obvious injustice upon litigants and • is not supported by reasonable authority, it should be eliminated from the body of precedents.” Forte, 702 N.E.2d at 1117, n. 8; see also Morton v. Merrillville Toyota, Inc., 562 N.E.2d 781, 784 (Ind.Ct.App. 1990) (it is duty of court to investigate wisdom of precedents established many years ago); New York, C. & St. L.R. Co. v. Henderson, 237 Ind. 456, 465, 146 N.E.2d 531, 537 (1957) (where rule works obvious injustice and is not supported by authority, it should be eliminated from body of precedents), modified on other grounds by Shuamber v. Henderson, 579 N.E.2d 452 (Ind. 1991). We do so here today, reaching a result that is soundly aligned with the many states that have decided the question before us, and a decision that is above all, just.

. Alabama (Young v. Bryan, 445 So.2d 234, 238 (Ala.1983) (only damages recoverable for wrongful death are punitive damages)); Alas ka (Tommy's Elbow Room v. Kavorkian, 727 P.2d 1038, 1048-49 (Alaska 1986)); Arizona (Bryant v. Silverman, 146 Ariz. 41, 42, 703 P.2d 1190, 1196 (1985)); Arkansas (Vickery v. Ballentine, 293 Ark. 54, 56, 732 S.W.2d 160, 162 (1987)); Connecticut (Gionfriddo v. Avis Rent A Car Sys., Inc., 192 Conn. 280, 292, 472 A.2d 306, 312 (1984)); Florida (Martin v. United Sec. Servs., Inc., 314 So.2d 765, 771-72 (Fla.1975)); Idaho (Gavica v. Hanson, 101 Idaho 58, 63, 608 P.2d 861, 864 (Idaho 1980), overruled on other grounds by Sterling v. Bloom, 723 P.2d 755, 111 Idaho 211 (1986) (Sterling was superseded by statute on the same unrelated grounds as stated in Harris v. State, Dep’t of Health & Welfare, 123 Idaho 295, 847 P.2d 1156 (1992))); Iowa (Koppinger v. Cullen-Schiltz & Assoc., 513 F.2d 901, 909 (8th Cir.1975) (applying Iowa law)); Missis*366sippi (Thornton v. Insurance Co. of N. America, 287 So.2d 262, 265 (Miss. 1973), superseded by civil procedure rule on other grounds as stated in Estate of Jackson v. Mississippi Life Ins. Co., 1999 WL 308821 (Miss.App.1999)); Missouri (Blum v. Airport Terminal Servs., 762 S.W.2d 67, 73 (Mo.Ct.App.1988)); Montana (Gagnier v. Curran Constr. Co., 151 Mont. 468, 479-80, 443 P.2d 894, 900 (1968)); Nevada (Porter v. Funkhouser, 79 Nev. 273, 276, 382 P.2d 216, 217 (1963)); South Carolina (Smoak v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R., 259 S.C. 632, 639-40, 193 S.E.2d 594, 597 (1972)); Tennessee (Louisville & N.R. Co. v. Satterwhite, 112 Tenn. 185, 211, 79 S.W. 106, 112 (1904)); Utah (Behrens v. Raleigh Hills Hospital, 675 P.2d 1179, 1185 (Utah 1983)); West Virginia (Bond v. City of Huntington, 166 W.Va. 581, 593, 276 S.E.2d 539, 545 (1981), superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in Rice v. Ryder, 184 W.Va. 255, 400 S.E.2d 263 (1990)).

. Kentucky — Ky.Rev Stat.Ann. § 411.130 ("[i]f the act was willful or the negligence gross, punitive damages may be recovered”).
Maine — Me.Rev.Stat.Ann. tit. 18-A, § 2-804 (jury "may give damages not exceeding $75,-000”).
Massachusetts — Mass.Gen.Laws., ch. 229, § 2 ("punitive damages [allowed] in an amount not less than five thousand dollars in such case as the decedent's death was caused by the malicious, willful, wanton or reckless conduct of the defendant or by the gross negligence of the defendant”).
Minnesota — Minn.Stat. § 573.02 ("[p]unitive damages may be awarded”).
New Mexico — N.M.Stat.Ann. § 41-2-3 ("jury in every such action may give such damages, compensatory and exemplary, as they shall deem fair and just”).
New York — N.Y. Est. Powers & Trusts Law § 5-4.3 ("punitive damages may be awarded if such damages would have been recoverable had the decedent survived”).
North Carolina — N.C.Gen.Stat. § 28A-18-2(b)(5) (damages include "[s]uch punitive damages as the decedent could have recovered had he survived, and punitive damages for wrongfully causing the death of the decedent through malice or willful or wanton conduct”).
Oklahoma — Okla. Stat.Ann. tit. 12, § 1053
("punitive or exemplary damages may also be recovered”).
Oregon — Or.Rev.Stat. § 30.020(2)(e) (damages include "punitive damages, if any, which the decedent would have been entitled to recover from the wrongdoer if the decedent had lived”).
Texas — Tex.Civ.Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 71.009 ("[w]hen the death is caused by the willful act or omission or gross negligence of the defendant, exemplary as well as actual damages may be recovered”).
Virginia — Va.Code Ann. § 8.01-52 ("[p]unitive damages may be recovered for willful or wanton conduct, or such recklessness as evinces a conscious disregard for the safety of others”). Wyoming — Wyo.Stat. § 1-38-102 ("court or jury ... may award such damages, pecuniary and exemplary, as shall be deemed fair and just").

. Sterling was superseded by statute on grounds unrelated to the issue of punitive damages as stated in Harris v. State, Dep’t of Health & Welfare, 123 Idaho 295, 847 P.2d 1156 (1992).