Court Opinion

ID: 9629800
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 09:49:47.832034+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:07:24.461025
License: Public Domain

CARDINE, Justice,
Retired, specially concurring.
I specially concur in the opinion of the court only to add to and clarify two issues in the case.
First, with respect to the unit of time argument, the prohibition against this argument, as stated by the court, is that plaintiff may not “assume an arbitrary figure for pain and suffering and multiply that figure *529against some unit of time ⅝ ⅝ But that is precisely what plaintiff has done in the prayer of his complaint when he asks for, say, $200,000 — or any other figure — for pain and suffering. It is an arbitrary figure. Plaintiff has always been entitled to inform the jury of the amount he is asking for in the prayer of his complaint. The jury should be first informed of this amount on voir dire for there may be jurors who, because of personal makeup, bias or prejudice, would not return a large verdict, or any verdict, no matter what the evidence. The jury is informed of the amount of the prayer on voir dire, in opening statement, in instructions to the jury and in argument. If it were otherwise, how would the jury know the amount of the verdict they could return if they found for plaintiff?
It is helpful that we now state clearly what is permitted and proper in final argument in a case. Assuming plaintiff seeks to recover $200,000 for pain and suffering, there will be proof that plaintiff has a life expectancy of 25 years and that plaintiff will endure pain and suffering for the rest of his life. The prayer of plaintiffs complaint is for $200,000. An argument based upon evidence and the prayer of the complaint would permit the jury to be informed that plaintiff will be in pain and will suffer for 25 years and that plaintiff is asking the jury to award $200,000. That argument might be as follows:
Plaintiff will endure pain and suffering each year for 25 separate years. How much should plaintiff be awarded for each year is for you to decide. No witness has testified to the amount you should award. I suggest to you that $200,000, the amount prayed for, for 25 years of pain and suffering is fair. Perhaps that is not enough, but that is for you to decide.
Surely a party can also say to the jury that $200,000 for 25 years is $8,000 per year. That is a simple mathematical calculation that is proper whether the argument relates to damages or anything else. But if the court says it is improper, I suggest that the party arguing might state to the jury:
I am not permitted by the court to divide 25 years into $200,000 to ascertain the amount of damages that would be awarded for each year of plaintiffs life' — so you, the jury, make the calculation.
A party, plaintiff or defendant, can argue what amount the jury should award. If deemed necessary, an expert witness can testify that there are 12 months in a year, 52 weeks in a year. Since plaintiff can inform the jury of the amount sought to be recovered for pain and suffering and the years of life expectancy, it is absurd to hold that neither party can tell the jury how much in money that is per year, month or week.
The objection to the unit of time argument has always been to blackboarding the figures and to breaking the years of life expectancy into minutes and seconds. I would limit the objection, if at all, only to blaekboarding and breaking the time into minutes and seconds, although that restriction makes little sense from a practical standpoint.
With respect to punitive damages, I would hold that the primary purpose of punitive damages is to punish the tortfeasor; a secondary purpose is to deter the tortfeasor and others who might be inclined toward the same type of activity. An award of punitive damages in this case would neither punish nor deter the deceased tortfeasor. Its deterrent effect to others, certainly a consideration, is not in and of itself sufficient to justify sustaining an award of punitive damages.