Bank of Miami v. Tambourine

PEARSON, Judge.

The defendant-appellant, The Bank of Miami, suffered an adverse verdict in a trial for conversion of a boat. The jury awarded the appellee $1,000 compensatory damages and $2,000 punitive damages. It urges as error the court’s denial of its motion made at the conclusion of the plaintiff-appellee’s case and renewed at the close of all of the evidence for a directed verdict upon the claim for punitive damages.

The parties agree that the controlling law was set forth by the Supreme Court of Florida in Winn & Lovett Grocery Co. v. Archer, 126 Fla. 308, 171 So. 214 (1936):

“ * * * the…