Ramos Rivera v. Commonwealth
Ramos Rivera v. Commonwealth
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Plaintiff Manuel Rafael Ramos Rivera, appellant herein, seeks review of the judgment reaffirmed on reconsideration as to the amount awarded in each cause of action for the damages suffered by appellant. It will be recalled that, on the disclosures of fact analyzed in appeal R-63-202,
It should be clear that in fixing in the judgment the maximum limit on the basis of the results of the evidence, there should be added the statutory limitation that the State shall only be liable, as respects the judicial execution of the judgment, up to the sum of $15,000 according to Act No. 104 of 1955.
However, regarding the increase in the indemnities awarded in this case, without the transcript of the evidence having been sent up, we cannot alter the compensation awarded by the trial court, since it is known that the safest test for increasing the compensation is the permanence of
It- is correct that in Pagán v. Guardiola, 78 P.R.R. 372, 373 (Belaval) (1955), following the order of exposition of Puig Peña’s comments — IV-II Puig Peña, Tratado de Derecho Civil Español 572 (1951) — we said that moral damages must be of evident patrimonial repercussion, in which case they are necessarily compensable as if they were material damages, but this does not mean that moral damages, strictu sens'll, those which belong to the sensible world of the human being, should not be compensated provided it is shown how those damages affected the health, welfare, and happiness of the injured — Hernández v. Fournier, 80 P.R.R. 94, 104 (Saldaña) (1957) — in which we held that “as to the moral damages, it is essential to prove deep moral suffering and anguish, and a passing affliction would not give rise to an action.” There being • no basis for altering the compensation awarded by the trial court other than the description of the injuries and the fact of the death of his wife and son, we will not disturb the compensation.
Regarding the exclusion of the attorney’s fees in the judgment, it is clearly established that according to Act No. 104 of 1955, the State may be ordered to pay costs but not attorney’s fees. Arroyo v. Municipality, 81 P.R.R. 425, 428-30 (Saldaña) (1959); Commomoealth v. Pérez, 83 P.R.R. 832, 846 (1961) (per curiam).
The judgment rendered by the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, Caguas Part, on August 6, 1963, will be affirmed as to the amount of compensation.
Editor’s Note: See 90 P.R.R. 795.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.