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Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Ind. Decisions - "Court of Appeals upholds road rage case damages"
Yesterday's Monday's Court of Appeals decision in the case of James G. Clark and Larry A. Biddle III v. Donald and Janet Simbeck (see ILB entry here) is the subject of a story this afternoon by Jeff Parrott of the South Bend Tribune. Some quotes:
The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld most of the nearly $825,000 in damages awarded in a road rage lawsuit filed after two half brothers kicked a man 30 to 50 times in the head and face for confronting them about their driving.Authorities say 26-year-old James G. Clark and 22-year-old Larry Biddle III had been drinking and closely following a vehicle driven by Donny Simbeck in Osceola in December 2003 just before the altercation.
Simbeck, who already was disabled by diabetes, followed the men to their home and got out of his car to discuss the driving. Clark and Biddle punched and kicked Simbeck in the head and face an estimated 30 to 50 times, and they also struck his wife Janet Simbeck, who had been traveling with her husband. * * *
The appeals court said the compensatory damages were not excessive, given the "pain, scarring, disfigurement and future problems and procedures caused by the attack."
But the three-judge appeals panel reversed the $86,000 in punitive damages, finding that Clark, who earns $13 an hour, and Biddle, who has no income, could not afford to pay them.
The three-judge panel cited a 2003 state Supreme Court ruling that stated, "An award that not only hurts but permanently cripples the defendant goes too far. A life of financial hopelessness may be an invitation to a life of crime."
Chief Judge John Baker dissented. He said Clark and Biddle's conduct that night "was so egregious, so malicious, and so brutal that the relatively nominal punitive damages award of $60,000 is warranted."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 22, 2008 04:57 PM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions