Opinion
No. 05-08-00445-CV
Opinion issued September 29, 2009.
On Appeal from the 192nd Judicial District Court, Dallas County, Texas, Trial Court Cause No. 06-01158-K.
Before Justices WRIGHT, MOSELEY, and FRANCIS.
SUPPLEMENTAL MEMORANDUM OPINION
SEJ Properties, LP. sued Jaipal Reddy Elete for breach of contract and intentionally damaging property Elete leased from SEJ. Before trial began, Elete stipulated he was liable for the physical property damage to the bathrooms, including the toilets, urinals, sinks, tiles, and walls. At the close of evidence, SEJ sought and was granted a trial amendment to include a cause of action for negligence. The jury found in favor of SEJ on the negligence issue and awarded actual damages of $70,410 and punitive damages of $97,500. Elete filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict which the trial court denied. Nevertheless, SEJ remitted $65,691 in actual damages at the trial court's suggestion, and the final judgment awarded SEJ only $4719 in actual damages but the entire $97,500 in punitive damages. Elete appealed. In an opinion dated August 12, 2009, we concluded the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing SEJ to make a trial amendment and Elete did not preserve his complaint about the admissibility of evidence regarding whether SEJ owned the leased premises. We further concluded the evidence was legally and factually sufficient to show SEJ owned the property and to support the award of actual and punitive damages to SEJ; however, we agreed with Elete that the exemplary damages awarded, nearly twenty-one times the actual award of damages, did not conform with the constitutional guidelines set out in State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408, 417, 425 (2003). See Tony Gullo Motors I, L.P. v. Chapa, 212 S.W.3d 299, 308 (Tex. 2006). Therefore, we suggested a remittitur of $90,956 with respect to exemplary damages, leaving $6544 in punitive damages. We then affirmed the trial court's judgment in all other respects conditioned on SEJ's filing a remittitur of $90,956 with the Clerk of this Court within fifteen days of the date our opinion issued. The fifteen-day period has since expired, and SEJ has not filed a remittitur. Therefore, in accordance with our August 12, 2009 opinion, we reverse the trial court's judgment and remand this cause for a new trial on all issues.