Budget Car Sales v. Stott
Cases that cite this one
14 later published cases cite this decision.
- INS Investigations Bureau, Inc. v. Lee (Ind. Ct. App. 2003)
- Coachmen Industries, Inc. v. Dunn (Ind. Ct. App. 1999)
- Creative Demos, Inc., Cross-Appellee v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (7th Cir. 1998)
- Jeff West v. J. Greg Allen Builder, Inc., and Princeton Homes, and Greg Allen (Ind. Ct. App. 2017)
- Jason T. Myers v. Gary W. Myers (Ind. Ct. App. 2014)
- Jeremy Flax v. Daimler-Chrysler Corporation - Dissenting (Tenn. 2008)
- Jeremy Flax v. Daimler-Chrysler Corporation (Tenn. 2008)
- Stroud v. Lints (Ind. 2003)
- Executive Builders, Inc. v. Trisler (Ind. Ct. App. 2000)
- George E. Hemenway v. Peabody Coal Company and Peabody Development Company (7th Cir. 1998)
- Deeanna Brewer v. Wal-Mart Stores, Incorporated (7th Cir. 1996)
- Schimizzi v. Illinois Farmers Insurance (District Court, N.D. Indiana 1996)
- Hart v. Steel Products, Inc. (Ind. Ct. App. 1996)
- Rogers v. Ford Motor Co. (District Court, N.D. Indiana 1996)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Opinion
*639 ORDER
This matter comes before the Court on the Petition To Transfer filed by Appellee, Ralph Stott.
The Court notes that the Court of Appeals has applied an incorrect standard of review for the award of punitive damage by considering whether the evidence excluded every reasonable hypothesis of innocent conduct and by indicating that a defendant is cloaked with the presumption that tortious conduct was a noniniquitous human failing. Budget Car Sales v. Stott, 656 N.E.2d 261, 265 & 266 (Ind.Ct.App. 1995). As explained in Bud Wolf Chevrolet, Inc. v. Robertson, 519 N.E.2d 135, 137-8 (Ind. 1988), these two concepts from Orkin Exterminating Co. v. Traina, 486 N.E.2d 1019 (Ind. 1986) have been superseded. Accord Erie Ins. Co. v. Hickman, 605 N.E.2d 161, 162 (Ind. 1992); see also Erie Ins. Co. v. Hickman, 622 N.E.2d 515, 523 (Ind. 1993).
The correct standard of review for punitive damages is whether, considering only the probative evidence and the reasonable inferences supporting it, without weighing evidence or assessing witness credibility, a reasonable trier of fact could find by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with malice, fraud, gross negligence or oppressiveness which was not the result of a mistake of fact or law, honest error of judgment, overzealousness, mere negligence, or other human failing. Bud Wolf, 519 N.E.2d at 137.
However, having applied the correct standard of review, the Court reaches the same outcome as did the Court of Appeals herein. Accordingly, the Petition To Transfer is DENIED.
The Court directs West Publishing Company to publish this order.
The Clerk is directed to send copies of this order to the Hon. John T. Sharpnack, Chief Judge of the Indiana Court of Appeals; Steve Lancaster, Administrator for the Indiana Court of Appeals; Mrs. Janet Roberts Blue, Commissioner for the Indiana Court of Appeals; and to counsel of record.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.