Court Opinion

ID: 9768774
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 13:48:11.534404+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:44.788321
License: Public Domain

JohN A. Fogleman, Justice, dissenting. I cannot see how there was any prejudice in the .instruction on disfigurement as given by the court on the facts in this record. All the eases I have been able to find in this state base this element of dafmage on humiliation and embarrassment, and other elements covered in the instruction that was given, Ferguson & Wheeler Land, Lumber & Handle Co. v. Good, 112 Ark. 260, 165 S. W. 628; Gaster v. Hicks, 181 Ark. 299, 25 S. W. 2d 760; Perkins Oil Co. of Delaware v. Fitzgerald, 197 Ark. 14, 121 S. W. 2d 877. I can conceive of many circumstances in which there will be additional damages, but I do feel that the AMI instruction as drawn permits, and actually suggests, double damages, particularly where the instruction is given to include the nature, extent, duration and permanency of the injury as an elelment. Whatever damages may be recoverable for disfigurement that are not covered in the elements permitting recovery for earnings to be lost in the future, loss of earning capacity and pain and suffering and mental anguish are certainly included in the nature, extent, duration and permanency of the injury. It is quite reasonable to suppose that one could be disfigured so as to handicap him in earning a livelihood and to require future medical attention, but I cannot see why disfigurement should be considered separately any more than injuries to the back and neck in the usual whiplash case or non-disfiguring injuries to other parts of the body. If there is any element that is not covered in case of disfigurement in the usual elements of damage, then I cannot see how it would be any more than humility and embarrassment which I feel are covered by mental anguish. In this respect I dissent from the majority. I submit that the model instruction should be reexamined and more specific guides given for use of “disfigurement” as an element of damages.