Markowitz v. Re/Max Preferred Properties

42 Va. Cir. 292
CourtFairfax County Circuit Court
DecidedMay 21, 1997
DocketCase No. (Law) 143782
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 42 Va. Cir. 292 (Markowitz v. Re/Max Preferred Properties) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Fairfax County Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Markowitz v. Re/Max Preferred Properties, 42 Va. Cir. 292 (Va. Super. Ct. 1997).

Opinion

By Judge Stanley P. Klein

This matter remains before the Court for a ruling on Defendant Francis Dove’s Motion to Set Aside the Verdict or in the Alternative for Remittitur. Dove claims (1) that Virginia’s common law scheme for awarding punitive damages violates constitutional due process principles and (2) that the jury’s punitive damage award against him violates due process. After an independent review of the evidence presented at trial and the applicable federal and Virginia authorities, the Court finds that the punitive damage award against Dove violates neither constitutional nor Virginia common law principles. Therefore, Dove’s motion is denied.

I. Procedural History

On July 26, 1993, Plaintiffs Morry B. Markowitz and Valery Gilbert (collectively “Markowitz”) executed a proposed written sales contract to purchase property located at 4319 Roberts Avenue, Annandale, Virginia, for $270,000.00. The contract was presented to them by Dove who represented that he was an agent for Defendant Jack Griffin, d/b/a Re/Max Preferred Properties (Griffin). Some time thereafter Dove presented Plaintiffs with what [293]*293purported to be a fully executed contract signed by an authorized representative of Citicorp, the seller. The signature was a forgery. Plaintiffs subsequently tendered to Dove two checks totaling $40,000.00 for the downpayment under the contract. Dove deposited those funds in an account under his sole control. Plaintiffs proceeded to make arrangements to close on the sale of the property and expended $300.00 for a house inspector and $2,076.00 for fees to a mortgage company.

Pursuant to the contract, certain work was to be performed on the residence prior to closing. Markowitz periodically checked on the work and became concerned when it was clear that it would not be completed prior to the scheduled settlement date in late August, 1993. On one occasion when Markowitz came to the residence, a real estate agent was showing the property to a prospective purchaser and advised Markowitz that the property was still listed for sale with the multiple listing service. Markowitz contacted Dove who advised that the listing was the re,sult of a computer error. Eventually, Markowitz asked Dove to provide him with the name of the contact person at Citicorp and attempted to reach that person. He was unable to do so.

Upon further investigation, Markowitz learned in mid-September, 1993, that Citicorp had never executed a contract with him and in fact had sold the property to someone else. Markowitz demanded his money back from Dove. After Dove bounced a $20,000.00 check to Markowitz, Markowitz was eventually able to secure repayment of the $40,000.00 advanced by Plaintiffs.

On August 3, 1995, Markowitz and Gilbert filed a four count Motion for Judgment against Dove and Griffin alleging fraud, negligent misrepresentation, negligence, and gross negligence. During a multi-day jury trial, evidence was presented that Dove was presently in the penitentiary for acts of fraud unrelated to this transaction. The case went to the. jury solely on the fraud count, and verdicts were returned in favor of the Plaintiffs against Griffin for $500.00 compensatory damages and against Dove for $5,500.00 compensatory damages and $100,000.00 punitive damages.

The jury’s compensatory damage award of $5,500.00 against Dove evidenced a misunderstanding of the effect of instruction number 24 on the evidence of damages. Based upon the evidence and the rulings of the Court during trial, the maximum potential amount of compensatory damages to which Plaintiffs were entitled was $2,376.00. "

Moreover, “[i]n the absence of statutory authorization, no apportionment of compensatory damages may be made between joint tortfeasors, and in actions against two or more persons for a single tort, it is improper to return two verdicts for different sums against different defendants ...” Freeman v. Sproles, 204 Va. 353, 357 (1963). As the jury awarded Markowitz [294]*294compensatory damages of only $500.00 against Griffin, the Court could not allow the different compensatory damage awards to stand.

At oral argument on the propriety of the compensatory damage awards, the Court rejected Re/Max’s Motion to Set Aside the Verdict, and counsel for Griffin then withdrew any attack on the amount of the award against him. Counsel for Plaintiffs then agreed to a reduction of the compensatory damage award against Dove to $500.00, so that the verdict would not violate the holding in Freeman.

II. The Constitutional Framework for Assessing Punitive Damage Awards

Dove contends that the Virginia scheme for assessing an award of punitive damages is unconstitutional. As the Virginia Supreme Court has not yet addressed this issue, this Court must analyze the constitutionality of the Virginia scheme in light of the controlling case law set forth in recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court.

In Pacific Mutual Life Ins. v. Haslip, 499 U.S. 1 (1991), the Supreme Court considered a due process challenge to Alabama’s common law scheme for assessing punitive damages. Alabama’s common law scheme left the determination of the quantum of punitive damages to the discretion of the jury. This determination was then subject to review by the trial and appellate courts to ensure that the award comported with a standard of reasonableness. Id. at 15. In affirming the constitutionality of Alabama’s common law method, the Supreme Court stated:

It is a well-established principle of the common law that in ... all actions on the case for torts, a jury may inflict... punitive ... damages upon a defendant ... if repeated juridical decisions for more than a century are to be received as the best exposition of what the law is, the question will not admit of argument.

Haslip, 499 U.S. at 16 (quoting Day v. Woodworth, 13 How. 363, 14 L. Ed. 181 (1852)). In finding the Alabama scheme constitutional, the court rejected Pacific Mutual’s argument that the Constitution requires a standard of proof of at least clear and convincing evidence to support an award of punitive damages. “We are not persuaded ... that the Due Process Clause requires that much. We feel that the lesser standard ... when buttressed ... by procedural and substantive protections ... is constitutionally sufficient.” Id. at 22, n. 11.

[295]*295While acknowledging the long history that the common law scheme has enjoyed in our jurisprudence, the Court explicitly rejected the notion that the pedigree of the practice acts to insulate it from constitutional challenge. Declaring that unlimited jury discretion can work to violate a defendant’s right of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court rejected a “mathematical bright line” approach for discerning constitutionally acceptable and unacceptable jury awards. Id. at 18. Instead, the Court emphasized that “general concerns of reasonableness and adequate guidance from the court when a case is tried to a jury properly enter into the constitutional calculus.” Id. The Haslip Court then reviewed and upheld the sufficiency of the punitive damage instruction given to the jury and the adequacy and substance of Alabama’s post-trial review procedures.

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Bluebook (online)
42 Va. Cir. 292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/markowitz-v-remax-preferred-properties-vaccfairfax-1997.