KATHY PINSON V RANDY CIGAN
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
KATHY PINSON and DONALD PINSON,
UNPUBLISHED
May 8, 1998
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v
No. 184923
Wayne Circuit Court
LC No. 93-306655 NZ
RANDY CIGAN,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: Neff, P.J., and White and D. A. Teeple,* JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
In this personal injury action arising from a battery, defendant appeals as of right from the entry
of a judgment in favor of plaintiffs awarding $20,000 in actual damages and $20,000 in exemplary
damages. We affirm.
Defendant argues that he is entitled to a new trial on the issue of damages because an erroneous
jury instruction resulted in the jury doubly compensating plaintiff for her mental distress damages.
Defendant has not preserved this issue for appellate review by advancing a timely objection to the
instructions given. Phinney v Perlmutter, 222 Mich App 513, 537; 564 NW2d 532 (1997). Our
review of the record does not persuade us that manifest injustice occurred in this case. Id. Because the
jury was instructed in this case that exemplary damages compensated feelings of humiliation, outrage
and indignity resulting from voluntary acts of a malicious or willful and wanton character which
demonstrate a reckless disregard of plaintiff’s rights, the jury, if it deliberated as instructed, did not
consider the same mental distress components when determining actual and exemplary damages. White
v City of Vassar, 157 Mich App 282, 292; 403 NW2d 124 (1987).
Defendant also argues that he is entitled to a remittitur. This issue is likewise unpreserved for
appellate review. McFadden v Tate, 350 Mich 84, 91; 85 NW2d 181 (1957). In any event, the
argument lacks merit in light of our resolution of defendant’s first appellate issue.
* Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
-1
Affirmed.
/s/ Janet T. Neff
/s/ Helene N. White
/s/ Donald A. Teeple
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