Wood v. Paolino

This civil action was brought in the Superior Court to recover damages for injuries allegedly sustained when on September 17, 1966, the defendant V. J. Paolino, 1 mistakenly believing that certain profane remarks uttered by the plaintiff had been directed against him, grabbed the plaintiff around the neck and kneed him in the back. The case was tried to a jury which returned a verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of $13,000 for compensatory damages and nothing for punitive damages. After judgment had entered and on the defendant’s motion, the trial justice ordered a new trial solely on the…