Boyd Ex Rel. Boyd v. Bulala

751 F. Supp. 576, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16128, 1990 WL 190494
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedNovember 27, 1990
DocketCiv. A. 83-0557-A-C
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 751 F. Supp. 576 (Boyd Ex Rel. Boyd v. Bulala) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boyd Ex Rel. Boyd v. Bulala, 751 F. Supp. 576, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16128, 1990 WL 190494 (W.D. Va. 1990).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

MICHAEL, District Judge.

I.

This case is before the court on the issue of the appropriate amount of interest which this court should award to the plaintiffs, Helen and Roger Boyd. The Boyds won their medical malpractice lawsuit against the defendant, Dr. R.A. Búlala, by a jury verdict for the amount of $8,300,000, which was returned on January 21, 1985. 1 Upon the disposition of post-trial matters, the Clerk entered judgment upon the verdict on November 5, 1986. The final disposition of the case and its dismissal were entered on February 2, 1988. 2 On appeal, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered this court to vacate the original judgment and enter judgment for a lesser amount, so that it would comply with Va.Code Ann. § 8.01-581.15 (1984), Virginia’s statute which limits a plaintiffs recovery in a medical malpractice action. 3 The appellate court's specific charge was that this court “vacate its present judgment and ... enter judgment in favor of Veronica Boyd in the sum of $425,000, with interest and costs, and in favor of Helen Boyd in the sum of $425,000, with interest and costs.” Boyd v. Bulala, 905 F.2d 764, 769 (4th Cir.1990). Accordingly, on August 9, 1990, this court vacated the original judgment and entered judgments of $425,000, with interest and costs, to both Veronica and Helen Boyd. The plaintiffs have now moved for the court to determine proper interest on the judgments. The parties have fully briefed and argued the issue, and the matter is now ripe for disposition.

*578 II.

A. Prejudgment Interest

The plaintiffs first contend that they are entitled to prejudgment interest. Although this court may award prejudgment interest in a diversity action, Gill v. Rollins Protective Services, Co., 836 F.2d 194, 198-99 (4th Cir.1987), such interest is not appropriate here. Section 8.01-382 of the Virginia Code provides:

[T]he verdict of the jury ... may provide for interest on any principal sum awarded, or any part thereof, and fix the period at which the interest shall commence .... If a judgment or decree be rendered which does not provide for interest, the judgment or decree awarded shall bear interest from its date of entry. ...

The jury in this case did not award prejudgment interest. The plaintiff offered no instruction on prejudgment interest and none was given, nor was any objection to the charge made. Thus, the plaintiff is precluded from obtaining prejudgment interest.

B. Postjudgment Interest

The question of postjudgment interest is more difficult. The plaintiffs first contend that interest should run from the date of the verdict. 4 In the alternative, the plaintiffs assert that postjudgment interest should run from November 5, 1986, the date the original judgment was entered. The defendant contends that interest must run from the date of the judgment, not the date of the verdict, and further maintains that the Fourth Circuit Mandate intends for interest to run from the date of the judgment on remand, which was August 9, 1990. Thus, three issues are readily apparent: (1) Whether interest should run from the date of the verdict; (2) Whether the Fourth Circuit’s Mandate leaves this court without authority to grant interest from any date other than the date of the judgment entered on remand; and (3) Whether interest should run from the date of the original judgment or the judgment entered on remand. The court will address each issue as appropriate.

The court first addresses whether interest can run from the date of the verdict, or whether it more appropriately accrues from the date of judgment. The Supreme Court of the United States recently addressed this very question in Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. v. Bonjorno, — U.S. -, 110 S.Ct. 1570, 108 L.Ed.2d 842 (1990). The applicable statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a), provides:

Interest shall be allowed on any money judgment in a civil case recovered in a district court.... Such interest shall be calculated from the date of the entry of the judgment, at a rate equal to the coupon issue yield equivalent ... of the average accepted auction price for the last auction of fifty-two week United States Treasury bills settled immediately prior to the date of the judgment.

In Kaiser Aluminum, the Court interpreted 28 U.S.C. § 1961 as follows:

[Section] 1961 refer[s] specifically to the “date of judgment,” which indicates a date certain. [It does not allude] to the date of the verdict and there is no legislative history that indicates congressional intent that interest run from the date of verdict rather than the date of judgment. Even though denial of interest from verdict to judgment may result in the plaintiff bearing the burden of the loss of the use of the money from verdict to judgment, the allocation of the costs accruing from litigation is a matter for the legislature, not the courts.... In light of the plain language and the absence of legislative intent to the contrary, we conclude that postjudgment interest properly runs from the date of the entry of judgment.

Kaiser Aluminum, — U.S. at -, 110 S.Ct. at 1576.

Prior to Kaiser Aluminum, the Courts of Appeals had been split on the issue of whether interest could run from the date of the verdict. Id. at-, 110 S.Ct. at 1575. *579 Those circuits which had allowed interest from the date of the verdict did so based on the equities involved. See Poleto v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 826 F.2d 1270, 1280 (3rd Cir.1987); Turner v. Japan Lines, Ltd., 702 F.2d 752, 756 (9th Cir.1983); Louisiana & Arkansas Railway v. Pratt, 142 F.2d 847, 849 (5th Cir.1944); However, in Kaiser Aluminum, the Supreme Court specifically rejected the proposition that courts could rely on the policy underlying § 1961(a), compensating the plaintiff “for the loss of the use of the money,” to allow interest from the date of the verdict. Kaiser Aluminum, — U.S. at -, 110 S.Ct. at 1575.

Accordingly, the plaintiffs’ assertion that fairness dictates this court to order judgment from the date of the verdict must fail. The Supreme Court’s determination in Kaiser Aluminum clearly indicates that the earliest date interest could accrue is the date of entry of judgment on the jury verdicts, November 5, 1986, and not the date the jury handed down the verdicts.

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Bluebook (online)
751 F. Supp. 576, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16128, 1990 WL 190494, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boyd-ex-rel-boyd-v-bulala-vawd-1990.