Bennett v. R & L CARRIERS SHARED SERVICES, LLC’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[T]he jury’s punitive damage award was not so excessive as to work an injustice. The facts and circumstances of this case, along with policy-related considerations, warranted a return of punitive damages. The jury’s punitive award neither creates a miscarriage of justice nor offends any notion of fairness or justice. Hence, granting of a new trial is not justified. Indeed, the rush to judgment and the decisions to press an arrest on the uncorroborated evidence given by known liars, and the withholding of exonerating evidence from the police and the state court all support the imposition of punishment. And, the award also serves a deterrent purpose. Perhaps, in the future R & L and McGinnis will not be so quick to close a case, and perhaps they might fairly, objectively and fully conduct an investigation before having someone arrested. In other words, the punitive award should also deter wrongful conduct on future theft investigations at R & L. And, if after checking for corroborative evidence, they determine that the word of a witness is confirmed to be of no value, they perhaps will refrain from pressing charges. And, if they do press charges and then, shortly thereafter, come across exonerating evidence, they will share it with the police and the courts. This ease clearly involved a miscarriage of justice but not the one of which the Defendants complain. The miscarriage, in fact, was visited on Clyde Bennett. The record shows clearly the miscarriage reflected in the jury’s ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 492 F. App'x 315 - Bennett v. R & L Carriers Shared Services, LLC

2. “B. Malice In Virginia, “malice” means “any controlling motive other than a good faith desire to further the ends of justice, enforce obedience to the criminal laws, suppress crime, or see that the guilty are punished.” [Hudson v. Lanier, 255 Va. 330, 332 , 497 S.E.2d 471, 473 (1998)] ... In Virginia, under certain circumstances, the want of probable cause alone can serve as legally sufficient evidence to support an inference of malice. See [Giant of Va., Inc. v. Pigg, 207 Va. 679 , 152 S.E.2d 271, 276 (1967)]; see also Oxenham v. Johnson, 241 Va. 281 , 402 S.E.2d 1, 2 (1991). In these instances, “there [i]s such a want of probable cause” that an inference of legal malice is warranted. Pigg, supra, 152 S.E.2d at 276 (emphasis added) (The malicious prosecution defendant’s “disregard of information communicated to him constituted an aggravated circumstance which supports the finding of the jury that there was such a want of probable cause as warranted an inference of legal malice.”); Oxenham, supra, at 2 , (The defendant’s “lack of probable cause [alone] was sufficient to support an inference of [the defendant’s] legal malice” where the defendant had “caused [an] arrest warrant to issue” against the plaintiff solely because the plaintiff had refused to let the defendant search the plaintiff’s residence without a search warrant.). .. .the fact that [a malicious prosecution plaintiff does] not label and identify explicitly an alleged improper motive ... is of no consequence. The C”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 156 F. Supp. 3d 739 - Daniczek v. Spencer

3. “In cases involving malicious prosecution or defamation claims, punitive damages may be awarded if the defendant demonstrates, by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with actual or express malice.... Actual malice is defined as conduct which is in conscious disregard of the rights of others and is wanton and oppressive.... While we acknowledge that lack of probable cause alone does not infer actual malice, ... it does lend support to a finding that the defendants acted with actual malice. The Virginia Supreme Court has also explained, in somewhat nuanced terms, that punitive damages are appropriate in malicious prosecution cases where there is evidence of misconduct or actual malice, or such recklessness or negligence as to evince a conscious disregard of the rights of others.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Scott v. Bender