Borland v. Barrett

Citations

• 76 Va. 128
• 1882 Va. LEXIS 10

Syllabus

<p>1. Assault and Battery—Vindictive damages—Instructions.—Right to recover vindictive damages is not confined to cases oí actual malice.</p> <p>2. Where the assault is of grievous or wanton nature, manifesting wilful disregard of the rights of others, actual malice need not be shown to entitle the aggrieved party to exemplary or vindictive damages.</p> <p>3. Every unlawful act done wilfully, to the injury of another, upon slight provocation, is presumed by the law to be malicious.</p> <p>4. An instruction which asserts that if defendant, in assaulting plaintiff, had neither malice nor deliberate purpose to injure, the measure of damages is compensatory, and not vindictive, is erroneous.</p> <p>5. The jury in such ease may give not only such damages as they think necessary to compensate the plaintiff, but also such as will operate as a punishment To the defendant and tend to deter him and others from similar outrages.</p> <p>■6. If an instruction does not correctly expound the law, the general rule is that the court may refuse to give it, and is under no obligation to give any other instruction in its place.</p> <p>7. After refusing defendant’s instruction the court said to the jury: “The • whole question and scope of damages are for the jury alone to determine.” This was not error. Had the court laid down any specific rule it must have said: “The jury are authorized to give vindictive damages, taking into consideration all the circumstances of insult and aggravation attending the case.”</p> <p>8. Idem—Excessive damages.—In this case, as the record does not disclose a single mitigating circumstance in favor of the defendant—</p> <p>Held :</p> <p>The damages are not excessive; but if they were, the verdict would not be disturbed, unless it showed that the jury were actuated by passion, prejudice, or undue influence, or unless the amount be grossly excessive.</p> <p>3. Jurors—Tampering, etc —Highly reprehensible for the parties to converse with the jurors, and however