Court Opinion

ID: 9662609
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:14:03.936002+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:27:11.526852
License: Public Domain

CRANDALL, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The parties herein tried a lawsuit in which the issue of damages was limited to $50,000. If the defendants had permitted judgment to be entered by default, recovery would have been limited to the prayer. By going to trial, they were subjected to a $150,000 judgment, a sum never mentioned in the pleadings nor requested in closing argument. This cannot be correct. Plaintiff clearly sought a total of $50,000 in damages and her recovery should be limited to that sum. See, e.g., Philip A. Boyer v. Grandview Manor Care Center, Inc. and Vada Mae Eder, No. 41579, slip op. (W.D.Mo.App. November 21, 1989).
I would reverse and remand.