Alabama high court rules no punitive damages without nominal or compensatory damages.The Alabama Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices, elected in partisan elections for staggered six year terms. announced that it will no longer uphold punitive damages Monetary compensation awarded to an injured party that goes beyond that which is necessary to compensate the individual for losses and that is intended to punish the wrongdoer. awards unless the jury awards compensatory or nominal damages Minimal money damages awarded to an individual in an action where the person has not suffered any substantial injury or loss for which he or she must be compensated. . (Life Insurance Co. of Georgia v. Smith Joseph and Sonya Smith, a couple who lived in Mableton, Georgia, went on trial in February of 2007 for the 2003 beating death of Josef Smith, their 8-year-old son. This case prompted authorities to raid the family's church in 2004 because it supports corporal punishment. , Nos. 1951773 to 1951777, 1951795 to 1951799, 1998 WL 397468 (Ala. July 17, 1998).) In adopting this new rule, the court departed from prior rulings in which it had upheld punitive damages in the absence of other damages on the ground that nominal damages could be inferred from the evidence presented at trial. The court found that in light of Alabama Code 6-11-1 [sections], which requires specificity in verdicts, "this practice of combing the record on appeal for evidence of an injury to the plaintiff can no longer be applied to verdicts that separate compensatory and punitive damages or simply label the award solely as punitive damages." In support of the new rule, the court also cited BMW v The BMW V was a water-cooled V-12 aircraft engine built in Germany in the 1920s. Effectively two BMW III engines sharing a common crankshaft, power was in the 270 kW - 310 kW (360 hp - 420 hp) range. Specifications
The case involved workers at the Bay Christian Academy who claimed that an agent for Life Insurance Co. of Georgia had misrepresented that he was selling a tax-free retirement program when in fact he was selling life insurance. The plaintiffs sought compensatory damages, including damages for mental anguish When connected with a physical injury, includes both the resultant mental sensation of pain and also the accompanying feelings of distress, fright, and anxiety. As an element of damages implies a relatively high degree of mental pain and distress; it is more than mere disappointment, , asserting they had incurred a potential income tax liability. An Alabama jury awarded the plaintiffs $200,000 in punitives, but no compensatory damages. Georgia Life argued that under Alabama law punitive damages cannot be awarded unless the jury had found that the plaintiff was injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. . Consequently, the company argued that because the jury had awarded no compensatory damages, the court should reverse the judgment or reduce the punitives to nothing. The plaintiffs responded that under Alabama law, compensatory damages are not a prerequisite for a jury to award punitive damages if the plaintiff produced substantial evidence of an injury. The plaintiffs claimed that they had presented substantial evidence that they had incurred monetary damage in the form of a potential tax liability and mental anguish related to that liability. The case will be remanded for a new trial in which the new rule will be applied. Taylor Wilkins Jr., a Fairhope, Alabama Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, on a sloping plateau, along the cliffs and shoreline of Mobile Bay. The 2000 census lists the population of the city as 12,480. [1] Geography Fairhope is located at 30°31'35.018" North, 87°53'44.473" West (30. , attorney who represented the plaintiffs, is confident that once the court instructs jurors about the new rule, they will award his clients compensatory or nominal damages. He said the decision is a good one for the plaintiffs' bar because it means "both courts and attorneys now have a brightline rule to follow." Robert Hedge, a Mobile, Alabama, attorney who represented Bay Christian Academy workers who later settled with Georgia Life, agreed. "You always want to prove and have a jury award compensatory damages so that a punitive award will be upheld on appeal," he said. |
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