KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

314

DAMAGES.

DAMAGE

those courts, In actions upon the case, covenant, trespass, etc., wherein the damages were un certain ; which the plaintiff was obliged to pay to the prothonotary or the officer of the court wherein he recovered, before he could have ex ecution for the damages. This was originally a gratuity given to the prothonotaries and their elerks for drawing special writs and pleadings; but it was taken away by statute, since which, if any officer in these courts took any money in the name of damage-cleer, or anything in lieu thereof, he forfeited treble the value. Wharton. — Damage feasant or faisant. Doing dam age. A term applied to a person's cattle or beasts found upon another's land, doing dam age by treading down the grass, grain, etc. 3 Bl. Comm. 7, 211; Tomlins. This phrase seems to have been introduced in the reign of Edward III., in place of the older expression "en son damage,," (in damno suo.) Crabb, Eng. Daw, 292.— Damaged goods. Goods, subject to du ties, which have received some injury either in the voyage home or while bonded in warehouse. A pecuniary compensation or indemnity, which may be recovered in the courts by any person who has suffered loss, detriment, or injury, whether to his person, property, or rights, through the unlawful act or omission or negligence of another. Scott v. Donald, 165 U. S. 58, 17 Sup. Ct. 265, 41 L. Ed. 632; Crane v. Peer, 43 N. J. Eq. 553, 4 Atl. 72; Cincinnati v. Hafer, 49 Ohio St 60, 30 N. E. 197; Wainscott v. Loan Ass'n, 98 Gal. 253, 33 Pac. 88; Carvill v. Jacks, 43 Ark. 449; Collins v. Railroad Co., 9 Heisk. (Tenn.) 850; New York v. Lord, 17 Wend. (N. Y.) 293; O'Connor v. Dils, 43 W. Va. 54, 26 S. E. 354. A sum of money assessed by a jury, on finding for the plaintiff or successful party in an action, as a compensation for the in jury done him by the opposite party. 2 Bl. Comm. 438; Co. Litt. 257a; 2 Tidd, Pr. 869, 870. Every person who suffers detriment from the unlawful act or omission of another may recover from the person in fault a compen sation therefor in money, which is called "damages." Civ. Code Cal. § 3281; Civ. Code Dak. § 1940. In the ancient usage, the word "damages" was employed in two significations. According to Coke, its proper and general sense included the costs of suit, while its strict or relative sense was exclusive of costs. 10 Coke, 116, 117; Go. Litt 257a; 9 East, 299. The latter meaning has alone survived. Classification. Damages are either gen eral or special. General damages are such as the law itself implies or presumes to have ac crued from the wrong complained of, for the reason that they are its immediate, direct, and proximate result or such as necessarily result from the injury, or such as did in fact result from the wrong, directly and proximately, and without reference to the special character, con dition, or circumstances of the plaintiff. Mood v. Telegraph Co., 40 S. C. 524, 19 S. E. 67; Manufacturing Co. v. Gridley, 28 Conn. 212; Irrigation Co. v. Canal Co., 23 Utah, 199, 63 Pac. 812; Smith v. Railway Co., 30 Minn. 169, 14 N W. 797; Loftus v. Bennett, 68 App. Div. 128. 74 N. Y. Supp. 290. Special damages are those which are the actual, but not the neces sary, result of the injury complained of, and which in fact follow it as a natural and proxi mate consequence in the particular case, that is, DAMAGES.

by reason of special circumstances or conditions. Hence general damages are such as might ac crue to any person similarly injured, while spe cial damages are such as did in fact accrue to the particular individual by reason of the par ticular circumstances of the case. Wallace v. Ah Sam, 71 Cal. 197, 12 Pac. 46, 60 Am. Rep. 534; Manufacturing Co. v. Gridley, 28 Conn. 212; Lawrence v. Porter, 63 Fed. 62, 11 C. C. A. 27, 26 L. R. A. 167; Roberts v. Graham, 6 Wall. 579, 18 L. Ed. 791; Fry v. McCord, 95 Tenn. 678, 33 S. W. 568. Direct and consequential. Direct dam ages are such as follow immediately upon the act done; while consequential damages are the necessary and connected effect of the wrongful act, flowing from some of its consequences or results, though to some extent depending on oth er circumstances. Civ. Code Ga. 1890, $ 3911; Pearson v. Spartanburg County, 51 S. C. 480, 29 S. E. 193; Eaton v. Railroad Co., 51 N. H. 504, 12 Am. Rep. 147. Liquidated and unliquidated. The for mer term is applicable when the amount of the damages has been ascertained by the judgment in the action, or when a specific sum of money has been expressly stipulated by the parties to a bond or other contract as the amount of dam ages to be recovered by either party for a breach of the agreement by the other. Watts v. Shep pard, 2 Ala. 445; Smith v. Smith, 4 Wend. (N. Y) 470; Keeble v. Keeble, 85 Ala. 552, 5 South. 149; Eakin v. Scott, 70 Tex. 442, 7 S. W. 777. Unliquidated damages are such as are not yet reduced to a certainty in respect of amount, nothing more being established than the plaintiffs right to recover; or such as can not be fixed by a mere mathematical calculation from ascertained data in the case. Cox v. Mc Laughlin, 76 Cal. 60, 18 Pac. 100, 9 Am. St Rep. 164. Nominal and substantial. Nominal dam ages are a trifling sum awarded to a plaintiff in an action, where there is no substantial loss or injury to be compensated, but still the law recognizes a technical invasion of his rights or a breach of the defendant's duty, or in cases where, although there has been a real injury, the plaintiff's evidence entirely fails to show its amount. Maher v. Wilson, 139 Cal. 514, 73 Pac. 418; Stanton v. Railroad Co., 59 Conn. 272, 22 Atl. 300, 21 Am. St. Rep. 110; Sprin ger v. Fuel Co., 196 Pa. 156, 46 Atl. 370; Tele graph Co. v. Lawson, 66 Kan. 660, 72 Pac. 283; Railroad Co. v. Watson, 37 Kan. 773, 15 Pac. 877. Substantial damages are considerable in amount, and intended as a real compensation for a real injury. Compensatory and exemplary. Compen satory damages are such as will compensate the injured party for the injury sustained, and nothing more; such as will simply make good or replace the loss caused by the wrong or in jury. McKnight v. Denny, 198 Pa. 323, 47 Atl. 970; Reid v. Terwilliger, 116 N. Y. 530, 22 N. E. 1091; Monongahela Nav. Co. v. U. S., 148 U. S. 312, 13 Sup. Ot 622, 37 L. Ed. 463; Wade v. Power Co., 51 S. C. 296, 29 S. E. 233, 64 Am. St. Rep. 676; Gatzow v. Buening, 106 Wis. 1, 81 N. W. 1003, 49 L. R. A. 475, 80 Am. St. Rep. 1. Exemplary damages are damages on an increased scale, awarded to the plaintiff over and above what will barely compensate him for his property loss, where the wrong done to him was aggravated by circumstances of vio lence, oppression, malice, fraud, or wanton and wicked conduct on the part of the defendant and are intended to solace the plaintiff for men tal anguish, laceration of his feelings, shame, degradation, or other aggravations of the orig inal wrong, or else to punish the defendant for his evil behavior or to make an example of him, for which reason they are also called "puni tive" or "punitory" damages or "vindictive" damages, and (vulgarly) "smart-money." Reid