Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Odem

ON APPELLANTS’ MOTION FOR REHEARING

CANTU, Justice.

We withdraw our judgment and opinion of May 22, 1996, and substitute the following.

Brandy Odem [Odem] appellee, brought suit against appellants Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. [Wal-Mart] and its store managers and against Maria Inez Saenz [Saenz aka Maggie], a Wal-Mart store greeter, for defamation, false imprisonment and assault. By unanimous verdict, a Brooks County jury awarded Odem $10,000 in actual damages and $800,000 in punitive damages. The trial court subsequently reduced the punitive damage award to $200,000. For reasons hereinafter set out,…