88 N.Y.S. 781 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1904
Lead Opinion
. The plaintiff,- a physician and surgeon, - engaged in the practice of his profession in the State of Vermont, on the 23d day of March, 1901, when in the Grand Central Depot in the city of New York about to take a train, was arrested by á police officer of the city of New York at the instigation of the defendant, taken to police headquarters and after a detention there taken before a police magistrate and. discharged. He brought this ■ action to recover damages for a false imprisonment based' ¡upon this arrest and detention.
Hpon the trial it was not disputed but that the defendant caused the arrest of the plaintiff, mistaking him for a person against whom he had made á criminal charge, and that the mistake was occasioned by the resemblance of the plaintiff to the person against whom the defendant had made the charge, There was. no question but that there was -a serious mistake; and that the plaintiff is of irreproachable character, standing high in his profession. On behalf of the defendant it was proved that he was the president of "the "Weston Electrical Instrument Company, having a; large manufacturing establishment at Newark, N. J.; that some time before this arrest he had been swindled by a man named Raymor; that when in. New York, stopping at the Waldorf Hotel, he saw the plaintiff ip that hotel, and, mistaking him for Raymorj lie at once took steps to locate him so as to make a criminal charge against him. That defendant employed private detectives who ascertained that plaintiff was stopping at the Manhattan Hotel, and was to leave New York on the morning of March 23, Í901. This information being communicated, to the defendant he sent for one of • the detective sergeants of the city of New York who came to the. defendant’s room at the hotel about half-past seven o’clock in the morning. With the detective sergeant and the private detectives the defendant went to the New York Central depot, pointed the plaintiff out "as -Raymor,. whereupon the plaintiff was arrested by -the detective sergeant and taken to police headquarters, and subsequently taken-before a magistrate when the mistake was discovered, the attornéy for the defendant stating to the magistrate that it was a case of mistaken identity and that there was no charge against the plaintiff. And the magistrate discharged the plaintiff from arrest. The
The defendant, upon the trial and also upon this appeal, insists that the court should have dismissed the complaint upon the ground that a police officer made the arrest, and that upon the undisputed evidence a crime had been committed, and as. the statement of the defendant to the police officer that the plaintiff was the person who had committed the crime, authorized the police officer to make the arrest, that the arrest and detention were not illegal, and that, therefore, an action for false imprisonment cannot be sustained, and in support of this proposition he cites the case of Thompson v. Fisk (50 App. Div. 71), where the court said: “ In this case there was no question made but that a felony had in fact been committed. Nor was any suggestion made but that the policeman was a peace officer. If, then, the officer had reasonable cause for believing that the plaintiff committed the felony, an arrest by him without a warrant was lawful, and even if the defendants procured the officer to make the arrest, still, if the^ arrest and detention by the officer were'lawful then the defendants would not be liable therefor, as for an unlawful .v ’ . < arrest and imprisonment. So that the real question was whether the officer, at the time he- made the arrest, had reasonable cause for believing -the plaintiff had committed the felony.” The question here presented was not directly before the court upon that appeal,, as what was determined was the question whether the officer had reasonable ground for believing that 'the plaintiff was connected with the felony that had been committed. This was a question for the jury and not for the court. If that case determined that where an individual requires a police officer to arrest an innocent person and the police officer, acting upon the statement made, makes the arrest, that the person instigating the arrest is not liable, if the police officer believed him, I think it is contrary to all the decisions and the settled law of this State. A peace officer has authority to make an arrest without a warrant where a felony has been committed and when he has reasonable cause to suspect the person arrested of having committed it, and if the officer acted iñ good
In Farnam v. Feeley (56 N. Y. 451) Judge Andrews says: “If the defendant directed the officer to arrest the plaintiff and he took her into custody in consequence of such direction, the defendant is liable as in an action for false imprisonment, unless he gave evidence establishing a justification. To justify a private person in arresting or aiding in the arrest of another without warrant, on a criminal charge, it must appear that a felony had been committed, and that he acted circumspectly and upon grounds which would have justified a careful and prudent person in believing that the person arrested was guilty of the crime. The burden is upon him to show, when sued for the arrest, that the circumstances justified the suspicion ; and if tins is made to appear he is not liable, although the accused was in fact innocent.;” and in Carson v. Dessau (142 N. Y. 445) the chief judge says: “ The arrest of the plaintiff was without warrant, on a charge of crime, when in fact, according to-her testimony, no crime had been committed, and no reasonable ground for suspicion existed on the part of David Dessau, by whose immediate direction the arrest was made. He was guilty of false imprisonment whether, or not the officer was liable.” In Hewitt v. Newburger (141 N. Y. 538) the 'defendant applied to "a magistrate and obtained a warrant for the plaintiff’s arrest, which
A further question is presented as to whether the trial justice was authorized to direct the jury to find the defendant liable for the arrest and detention of the plaintiff, or whether upon the facts it was a question for the jury to say, if they found that a felony had been committed, whether the defendant was justified in requesting the officer to make the arrest; and I am inclined to think that under the facts of this case this was a question for the jury. In Farnam
The court, in submitting this question to the jury, held as a matter of law that the plaintiff was entitled to compensatory damages, “ that is, he is entitled to Such a sum as will compensate him for the bodily and mental suffering caused by his. arrest, for the shame and humiliation of the arrest and the injury to his feelings, and for his anxiety of mind. That he is entitled to.” And that if the jury believed that the defendant acted with a wanton disregard of plaintiff’s rights, they could give more than compensatory damages, and left it to the jury to say whether the defendant acted as a prudent man would have acted under the circumstances, of the case; that “ if you believe plaintiff’s statement of it, then was it the act of a prudent man to cause plaintiff’s arrest ? If a crime had in fact been committed by the plaintiff, then the defendant had a right to cause his arrest, but he acted at his peril when he arrested the plaintiff. Did he act as a prudent man would have acted under the circumstances when he caused the plaintiff to be arrested by the detectives and taken to the Police Headquarters and from there to Jefferson Market Court % That is for you to determine from the evidence in the case. * * * I have told you that the detectives, Smith, Kennedy, Knox, Heitmann and McConville were the defendant’s agents, and their knowledge was his knowledge, their acts were his acts. * * *
We think it was error for the court to refuse these requests. From the size of the verdict it is quite clear that the. jury awarded a large sum as exemplary damages. The case discloses that Raymor, the man that the defendant had charged with having committed an offense which would justify his arrest, resembled the plaintiff, and there is no evidence to show that the defendant, in procuring the arrest of the plaintiff, had any motive except to secure the arrest of the man who had been guilty of a crime, and that the arrest of the plaintiff was caused by the resemblance that he bore to Raymor was also apparent. I am not prepared to say that it would have been error -with proper instructions to submit to the jury the question as to whether there was actual malice which Would justify an award of exemplary damages, but assuming that .that is só, the defendant was then entitled to have the jury specifically instructed that if the defendant acted upon a sincere belief that the plaintiff was the person who had committed the felony and in good faith acted upon that belief, it should be considered in fixing the amount of damages that they would award the plaintiff. That exemplary damages are only awarded in case of the proof of actual malice, and that in the absence of proof of actual malice the jury is confined to compensation, is elementary, and the defendant was entitled to have the jury expressly instructed that they must find not only that there was a false arrest and false imprisonment, but that the defendant in causing the arrest of the plaintiff acted from actual malice. The evidence to prove this actual malice may consist of proof that acts of the defendant were instigated by a desire to injure the plaintiff. Such malice may also .be proved by wanton conduct without a reasonable ground to suppose that the arrest Was justified or by other conduct of the defendant which would indicate that the wrong was committed from malicious or improper motives.
But, assuming that the evidence justified a finding of actual malice, the defendant was entitled to have the jury instructed that they must find that such malice existed before they could award exemplary damages.. No such instruction was given. The defendant again and ■ again requested the court to instruct the jury that if
We think that there was also another error in the charge which requires us to reverse the judgment.. The court expressly instructed the jury that these detectives, including the detective sergeant who. was a police officer, were the defendant’s agents ; that their knowl-, edge was his knowledge and their acts were his acts. That charge ■ does not seem to have been excepted to, but in relation thereto , counsel for the defendant asked the court to charge the jury that McConville, who was a. police officer, was not the agent of the defendant after the arrest was made; that the defendant was in nowise responsible for any act of McConville’s after the arrest was made; that McConville was then governed by the rules of the police department. These requests were declined and the defendant excepted. I think the defendant was clearly entitled to this instruction. While the defendant was undoubtedly liable for the acts of the
There are other questions presented upon this appeal which it is not necessary for us to determine as, for the reasons pointed out, there must be a new trial.
It follows that the judgment and order appealed from must be reversed and a new trial ordered, with costs to the appellant to abide the event.
McLaughlin and Hatch, JJ., concurred; Patterson, J., concurred in result.
Concurrence Opinion
I do not agree with the rule governing the award of exemplary damages as laid down in the prevailing opinion, yet I think' a new trial should be granted upon the ground that the verdict is excessive and that the jury were not fully instructed with reference to their
Actual malice, as distinguished from implied or imputed malice, is where the act has been performed through ill-will toward the plaintiff or with an intention to injure him. In the case of a corporation it would ordinarily be impossible to show the existence of actual malice, and yet verdicts for punitive damages in actions against them for libel have frequently been rendered and sustained throughout all the courts. Verdicts in libel cases have been sustained against an individual publisher who had no knowledge of the publication and, therefore, could not have had actual or express, malice. This, as I understand it, is upon the theory that, .although there may be no actual or express malice, the nature and consequences of the wrong may be such that the party responsible therefor may be chargeable with constructive malice implied or inferred from the facts. When, however, a court instructs a jury that punitive damages may only be awarded where malice is shown, the jury should be fully instructed with reference to the different kinds of malice or otherwise the charge may be misleading, and the jury may infer that it is incumbent on the plaintiff to show acts or declarations on the part of the defendant indicating the existence of ill-will and an intent to injure. I am also of opinion that ordinarily the jury will understand their duties if the court in instructing them would omit the term malice and charge that if the act complained of was committed wantonly or recklessly, even though without ill-will, or if the defendant was actuated by ill-will or an intention to injure, they may award punitive damages and that the amount of the award should be according to the gravity of the conduct of the defendant.
Judgment and order reversed, new trial ordered, costs to appellant to abide event.