Court Opinion

ID: 9764101
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:10:11.731699+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:53.462220
License: Public Domain

BISSETT, Justice,
concurring and dissenting.
I concur with the holding which awarded the plaintiff Garcia $25,000.00 as exemplary damages. I respectfully dissent from the part of the opinion by the majority which awards the plaintiff Garcia $50,000.00 for actual damages.
The incident which gave rise to this suit occurred on February 20,1976. The majority opinion does not set out any of the evidence. I believe that the evidence relating to actual damages should be discussed in detail.
The conclusions 1) “considerable evidence at the trial about the damages” sustained by Garcia; 2) “in summary, there is testimony that” “neighbors, long-time friends, family members, employer, and the wife” of Garcia “all noticed that the appellee was very upset over the incident”; and 3) “much shame and humiliation were caused by the incident according to the wife, which altered the character of the appellee and affected his business and familial relationships,” as stated in the majority opinion, are based solely on the testimony of Mr. Otis Southall, a neighbor and friend of Garcia; Mr. Danny Hernandez, who was married to a sister of Garcia’s wife; Mrs. Sylvia Garcia, wife of Garcia; and the plaintiff Garcia. As I read the record, they were the only witnesses who testified to matters relating to actual damages.
Mr. Southall, upon learning that Garcia had been arrested, went to the jail. In response to the inquiry concerning Garcia’s appearance “at that time,” he responded:
“Well, he was pretty well shook up . he was pretty well embarrassed over the whole situation.”
That is the extent of his testimony concerning any basis for an award of actual damages.
Mr. Hernandez, when queried as to whether the incident had caused him to notice any change in Garcia’s personality, answered “Yes,” based on his observation:
“A Well, sometimes I go over and ask him if he wants to drink a few beers, he don’t want to. He don’t-He’s not up to it. He don’t feel like it. And I guess it bothers him, and I asked him if-you know, I joke around with him and ask him, ‘Well, they’re not going to lock you up.’ He don’t want to say anything anymore. He don’t want to go drink beer. He just don’t want to talk about it.”
Nothing else appears in the transcription of his testimony which has any probative value with respect to actual damages.
Mrs. Sylvia Garcia, in response to the following questions, testified:
“Q Did you ask him what happened:
A I asked him that night, and he told me he didn’t want to talk about it.
Q Did you press the issue?
A No, I didn’t.
Q Why not?
A Because I knew he was upset and depressed.
Q How long was it before you were able to talk to him?
A About three months later he finally told me what happened.
Q What was his appearance then as far as you could tell? When he was telling you when he finally told you?
A Later?
Q Well, what was his demeanor? How was his facial expression? Did he *268seem upset or anything when he was telling you three months later?
A He was very upset. He didn’t really want to tell me, but I really pressured him into telling me. Because they kept asking me, you know, why he had been arrested and I didn’t know why. All I could say was for shoplifting because that’s what they had told me.”
She further testified that her kinsmen and numerous friends knew about the incident and that this fact upset her husband, and that when the subject was raised, “he withdraws from everybody.” During the period of the three months following February 20, 1976, and in response to the question if she had noticed any changes “in Mr. Garcia during this period of time,” she replied:
“A He’s a lot quieter. He don’t talk very much like he used to. He’s not very active like we were before. We used to go out dancing and partying and we don’t do it any more. He just doesn’t want to do it.
He doesn’t want to associate with his friends very often. It’s once in a while that we do go out.”
The foregoing statements constitute all that she said which has any bearing on the issue of actual damages.
Mr. Garcia, plaintiff, upon being told that he was being transported to the county jail, and in answer to the question “How did you feel mentally about this”, said:
“I get very depressed because I think I got arrested for something I didn’t do I was very upset. I was angry.”
When he was being taken out of the officer’s car upon reaching the jail, he said that he felt like a “common criminal,” and that the handcuffs caused his arms and hands to hurt. He further testified:
“I get depressed sometime at work . I’ll just put my work aside when I start to thinking about it.”
When asked:
“Do you know anyway that you can really shake this stigma at all ever?”;
he replied:
“No, sir, I don’t.”
The remainder of his testimony deals with matters other than those which pertain to the award for actual damages.
There is no testimony in this case from plaintiff’s “employer.” The only neighbor and friend of plaintiff who testified was Mr. Southall. The only family member who testified was Mr. Danny Hernandez who was related to plaintiff by marriage. There is no testimony from anyone other than the plaintiff that the incident affected the business of plaintiff; on the other hand, plaintiff said that his employer was most understanding of the impact of the incident upon plaintiff and told him: “he wanted to help out.” There is no testimony that the incident had any effect upon plaintiff’s reputation. Plaintiff admitted that his friends “trust him,” that his “character is beyond repute,” and that his boss had not “degraded” him for “what’s happened.” There is no evidence which supports the statement in the majority opinion that the incident “altered the character of the appellee.”
In Mitchell v. Jones, 548 S.W.2d 813 (Tex.Civ.App.-Corpus Christi 1977, no writ), the jury awarded plaintiff Jones the sum of $15,000.00 as actual damages for mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation resulting from false arrest. This Court held that the amount of actual damages awarded to Jones was excessive in the amount of $10,500.00. We suggested a remittitur of said sum of money, which was duly filed by the plaintiff.
Concerning actual damages, the only factual differences in the case at bar and the Jones case are relatively minor. In the instant case, the plaintiff Garcia, after his arrest at Moore’s store, was handcuffed and taken to jail where he was booked, photographed and fingerprinted; he remained in jail for approximately three hours. In the Jones case, the plaintiff Jones was arrested in the interior of the Globe Department Store; was paraded (while under arrest) through the middle of the store; was observed by fellow employees; was “patted down” by the deputies outside the store in *269the presence of third parties; was taken to jail; and was in the process of being booked when he was released after about 15 minutes of interrogation. Jones was not the victim of an assault; was not handcuffed at the store, was never fingerprinted or photographed at the jail; and was not placed in confinement. However, Jones was scared, worried and upset over what had happened; had the feeling that his fellow employees were watching him; did not believe that he, in fact, established his innocence as to any wrong doing in the eyes of other employees' until about a week after the incident; and was affected by the incident for a period of about three months. In each case, the actual damages which were awarded were based on mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation. Neither plaintiff had any real physical injury inflicted on him by the arresting officer; neither sustained a loss of earnings or earning capacity; and neither consulted a doctor or took any medication as a result of any emotional or mental trauma from the incident..
The facts in this case which led to the arrest of the plaintiff Garcia are more aggravated than are the facts which led to the arrest of the plaintiff Jones in the Jones case. For that reason, plus the fact that the dollar is ever-decreasing in value, the plaintiff Garcia is entitled to a recovery of substantially more money for actual damages than the amount of $4,500.00 which was ultimately recovered by the plaintiff Jones in the Jones case. However, having considered all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s award, I believe that the award of $50,000.00 to the plaintiff Garcia for actual damages is unreasonable under the evidence in this case, and was arrived at by some improper motive such as passion, prejudice, or speculation. In my opinion, the award is excessive by the amount of $35,000.00. I would suggest a remittitur in that amount of money.