Wortman v. Shipman

737 S.W.2d 438, 293 Ark. 253, 1987 Ark. LEXIS 2318
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedOctober 5, 1987
Docket87-70
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 737 S.W.2d 438 (Wortman v. Shipman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wortman v. Shipman, 737 S.W.2d 438, 293 Ark. 253, 1987 Ark. LEXIS 2318 (Ark. 1987).

Opinions

Tom Glaze, Justice.

This civil case had its origin in events which resulted in a prior federal indictment against the appellant, charging him with deliberately assaulting a federal law enforcement officer, Don Shipman. Appellant was tried three times on that charge, each resulting in hung juries and mistrials. The United States government subsequently dismissed the federal charge against the appellant. Shipman then filed this tort suit against appellant, alleging appellant’s negligent handling of a firearm caused injury to Shipman. He also alleged appellant deliberately, intentionally, willfully and maliciously shot him. Shipman was favored with a jury verdict, awarding him compensatory damages of $500.00 and punitive damages of $20,000.00. On appeal, appellant raises ten points for reversal. We concluded none of his arguments warrant a reversal, and, therefore, we affirm.

A brief discussion of the facts is necessary before considering appellant’s arguments. Appellant’s cabin and surrounding property is located in Searcy County, and it shares common boundaries with U.S. Forest Service property. Both federal and state law enforcement officers had conducted a surveillance near and around appellant’s land because they believed marijuana was being cultivated in that area. Appellant conceded that he knew federal and state officers were suspicious of marijuana in the area and that he had complained about low flying aircraft, including helicopters, that had been employed to surveil appellant’s land and surrounding property for marijuana. He also complained to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission regarding one of its game wardens who had been on appellant’s property looking for marijuana. These activities and events served as the backdrop for the shooting incident that occurred on July 31, 1983.

On July 31, because appellant was aware that individuals had been “sneaking” around the area, he cancelled plans to go on an outing. Instead, he positioned himself on a nearby bluff overlooking a roadway and waited until he saw two men (Ship-man and his fellow officer) walking in the roadway. Appellant, armed with a twelve-gauge shotgun, confronted the men, and ordered them to lie face down in the road. Appellant claimed he did not know the men were federal officers, but Shipman and his fellow officer both testified they had informed appellant they were officers and offered to show him their identification. Aside from this conflict in testimony, all agree that soon after the two officers had dropped to the ground as directed by appellant, they jumped up and ran to escape when appellant shot at them several times. Appellant hit Shipman with one of the shots, injuring him in the leg. At trial, Shipman contended that the shooting was deliberate, that appellant knew he and his colleague were law enforcement officers and that appellant, in an attempt to protect his marijuana, deliberately ambushed them. Appellant, on the other hand, tried to show, without success, that he was unaware the men were officers, that he was merely attempting a citizen’s arrest for their having trespassed on his property and that he shot Shipman in self-defense. In support of his story, appellant testified that his shooting was prompted because one of the men had reached for his revolver as they made their escape.

In addressing appellant’s arguments, we first note difficulty in meeting some points head-on because of the mixed criminal and civil legal theories advanced at the trial. Appellee filed this suit in tort, alleging ordinary negligence and tort of outrage. Appellant defended appellee’s suit by attempting to inject certain criminal defenses such as self-defense and justification; in fact, he argues here that the trial court erred in refusing to give jury instructions containing those defenses. Appellant, however, fails to cite any authority to support his position, and, indeed, we know of none. The authority, instead, runs counter to appellant’s argument.

This court on numerous occasions has said that when an AMI instruction is applicable in a case, it shall be used unless the trial judge finds it does not accurately state the law. Boyd & Smith v. Reddick & Twist, 264 Ark. 671, 573 S.2d 634 (1978); Vangilder v. Faulk, 244 Ark. 688, 426 S.W.2d 821 (1968). In the instant case, the trial judge correctly read AMI instructions concerning negligence, comparative negligence and those instructions commonly given in connection with these legal theories. He also included appropriate AMI instructions pertaining to damages. Appellant interposed no objection to any of these AMI instrúctions, but he did attempt to modify AMI 206 and 612 by including language regarding self-defense, justification and assumption of risk.1

In Vangilder, supra we held that if counsel offers an instruction in lieu of an AMI instruction and the offer is refused, preservation of the record on appeal requires counsel to specify the reasons why the AMI instruction is inadequate or inaccurate. Here, appellant failed to give his reasons for modifications, nor, as already mentioned, does he give us authority or convincing argument why his modified AMI instructions or other instructions should have been read. That being so, we are compelled to hold that the trial judge was correct in his rulings on the instructions both given and denied at trial.

Before departing from the subject of jury instructions, we need mention the court’s giving, without objection by either party, AMI 2217, as that instruction read before its revision after 1982. That revision added language providing for damages in cases — such as the one at hand — where intentional conduct is involved. In other words, the trial court gave the old AMI 2217 without modification, which reads as follows:

Punitive damages may be imposed to punish a wrongdoer and to deter others from similar conduct. Before you can impose punitive damages you must find that [appellant] knew or ought to have known, in the light of the surrounding circumstances, that his conduct would naturally or probably result in injury and that he continued such conduct with malice and [or] in reckless disregard of the consequences from which malice may be inferred . . .

In Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Herring, 267 Ark. 201, 589 S.W.2d 584 (1979), we concluded that the foregoing instruction was formulated for use in negligence cases and not designed — without modification — to apply in a case of an intentional tort. See also Hess v. Treece, 286 Ark. 434, 693 S.W.2d 792 (1985). In the instant case, both ordinary negligence and intentional tort were alleged and considerable evidence was offered in support of both theories. Neither the appellant nor appellee argue that the prior version of AMI 2217 was given erroneously, thus, such is not an issue in this appeal — at least, not a direct issue. We mention this point, however, because both parties discuss and argue the case as one involving an intentional tort. As previously discussed, appellant raised issues of self-defense and justification. Appellee then countered with evidence in an attempt to show, generally, why appellant shot the appellee, and specifically, to prove, circumstantially, that appellant was trying to protect marijuana patches he had grown near his property line at the time he shot appellee.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hudson v. Cook
105 S.W.3d 821 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2003)
King v. State
999 S.W.2d 183 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1999)
Schaffer v. Edward D. Jones & Co.
521 N.W.2d 921 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1994)
Larimore v. State
877 S.W.2d 570 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1994)
Porter v. State
823 S.W.2d 846 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1992)
Anthony Rini v. Oaklawn Jockey Club
861 F.2d 502 (Eighth Circuit, 1988)
Wortman v. Shipman
737 S.W.2d 438 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
737 S.W.2d 438, 293 Ark. 253, 1987 Ark. LEXIS 2318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wortman-v-shipman-ark-1987.