Court Opinion

ID: 9562001
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:20:16.695301+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:09.734849
License: Public Domain

BAKES, Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur in the result reached by the majority insofar as the statute of frauds question is concerned, albeit on somewhat different grounds. I would hold that the statute of frauds is not implicated in the first instance under the facts of this case. There is no alleged oral promise or agreement “to answer for the debt, default or miscarriage of another____” I.C. § 9-505. *615The oral agreement in the present case was an original undertaking and not the undertaking of a surety to answer to a creditor of a principal debtor. The alleged oral agreement inured to the direct benefit of all those entering into it. The individual interests of both Kingen and Betzold were represented and sought to be protected by the litigation in question. Thus, disposition of the case does not require an inquiry as to whether or not the agreement falls within an exception to the statute. The trial court properly ruled as a matter of law that no issue of fact existed to present the statute of frauds question to the jury.
I dissent as to the majority’s holding that punitive damages were properly awarded in the present case. The most recent statement of the standard of proof required for punitive damages was set out in Cheney v. Palos Verdes Investment Corp., 104 Idaho 897, 665 P.2d 661 (1983), wherein this Court stated:
“An award of punitive damages will be sustained on appeal only when it is shown that the defendant acted in a manner that was ‘an extreme deviation from reasonable standards of conduct, and that the act was performed by the defendant with an understanding of or disregard for its likely consequences.’ [Citations omitted.] The justification for punitive damages must be that the defendant acted with an extremely harmful state of mind, whether that state be termed ‘malice, oppression, fraud or gross negligence’ [citations omitted].” 104 Idaho at 905, 665 P.2d at 669.
Thus, in essence, punitive damages are “a means of deterring tortious conduct generally.” Boise Dodge, Inc. v. Clark, 92 Idaho 902, 908, 453 P.2d 551, 557 (1969) (emphasis added).
There is no showing in this record that there was any such conduct on the part of defendants. The most that is shown with regard to defendant Betzold was that he became “unable to meet his share of [the] contributions,” as the majority correctly observes. Ante at page 521. Inability to meet one’s obligations does not qualify for the awarding of punitive damages. The poor will certainly suffer by today’s decision.
The most that can be gathered concerning defendant Kingen’s alleged misconduct is that he erroneously asserted the defense of statute of frauds to the oral obligation. However, punitive damages are awarded for conduct which leads to and is the subject of the litigation, and not for how the trial is conducted, including which legal defenses are raised. While the bad faith, frivolous or unreasonable assertion of an affirmative defense or otherwise bringing a frivolous suit may be proper grounds for the court to award attorney fees as costs pursuant to I.C. § 12-121 and I.R.C.P. 54(e)(1), it is not a matter to submit to the jury for an award of punitive damages as was done in this case.
Even though this case was tried subsequent to the Cheney case, the instructions and award were based upon pre-Cheney law and standards. For that reason alone, the award of punitive damages should be reversed, as the Court did in Cheney. The majority gives no explanation of why the Cheney case is not followed, unless it too has now fallen into disfavor. In any event, unless there is more to this case than the majority states, it is clear beyond cavil that the facts of this case do not satisfy the standards of the Cheney case for the award of punitive damages.
Accordingly, I would affirm the judgment, except as to the award of punitive damages.