Barnes v. District of Columbia

Appellant Barnes sued the District of Columbia for false arrest and false imprisonment, and although the jury awarded him nominal damages of one dollar plus attorney’s fees up to $500, the trial court, consistent with its earlier rulings, entered judgment for only one dollar. Appellant now contends that the court erred not only in ruling that he could not recover attorney’s fees incurred or loss of earnings suffered while defending the underlying criminal actions, but also in denying a motion for mistrial based on the court’s refusal to admit evidence of these damages. We affirm.

I

On March…