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Baker v. National State Bank6/21/2002
, 264 N.J. Super. 172, 179 (App. Div. 1993). Although application of the doctrine is discretionary and may be relaxed, "' rior decisions on legal issues should be followed unless there is substantially different evidence at a subsequent trial, new controlling authority, or the prior decision was clearly erroneous.'" Underwood v. Atlantic City Racing Ass'n, 295 N.J. Super. 335, 339 (App. Div. 1996), (quoting Atlantic Employers Ins. Co. v. Chartwell Manor Sch., 280 N.J. Super. 457, 470 (App. Div. 1995)), certif. denied, 149 N.J. 140 (1997).
Here, there is no reason to conclude that the prior holding should not be followed. The Bank offers no substantially new evidence; even though it offers a new valuation, it makes the same argument for vacation of the punitive damages award as it did in its previous appeal. In its prior appeal, it contended that the jury valued the Bank at the wrong point of time at the time of its merger. In this appeal, it maintains that the jury's valuation was based on the Bank's net worth at the time of the merger. The Bank has failed to demonstrate a change of circumstances justifying a deviation from the law of the case doctrine.
Moreover, even if the law of the case doctrine were not followed, the trial court did not err in concluding that the punitive damages verdict was not so high as to indicate that it was tainted. "The test is whether, apart from the excessiveness of the award, there was 'adequate support for the jury's finding on liability.'" Iacano v. St. Peter's Med. Ctr., 334 N.J. Super. 547, 556 (App. Div. 2000) (citation omitted). Here, the trial court concluded sufficient evidence existed to support an award of punitive damages. The court had also found previously, in response to the Bank's prior motion to dismiss plaintiff's claim for punitive damages, that there was sufficient evidence of egregious conduct, demonstrated by Campbell's statement that plaintiffs "have to go" and the subsequent search for reasons to justify their termination. That finding was affirmed by this court, which concluded that the Bank engaged in devious and dishonest conduct. Similarly, although the Supreme Court did not discuss this issue in detail, it noted in its opinion that it affirmed the "remaining issues substantially for the reasons stated by the Appellate Division...." Baker, supra, 161 N.J. at 232. Since three courts have concluded that the jury verdict on punitive damages was adequately supported by the record, there is no reason to conclude that the punitive damages award was so tainted as to require a new trial.
The Bank argues that justice and due process demand that the correct value of the Bank be considered in determining whether either the $4 million or $1.8 million punitive awards were excessive. This issue is closely related to the issue of whether a "less drastic" remedy would have accomplished the goals of punishment and deterrence because if the Bank was actually worth less than its stipulated value, arguably, even the award of $1.8 million was excessive. Thus, the Bank argues that to ignore evidence of its correct value is an error of constitutional dimension.
Ordinarily, the "true" value of a defendant should always be considered in determining punitive damages, and the Supreme Court explicitly stated that in Baker, supra, 161 N.J. at 232. Thus, in the proper circumstances, the failure to consider a defendant's correct value may constitute reversible error.
But here, the actual value was unavailable because the Bank refused to provide such a figure or assist in the ascertaining of such a number. Furthermore, the record indicates that the Bank was aware of the possibility of punitive damages and therefore should have bee
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