JOSEPH CAMPERLENGO AND FOUR O'CLOCK LOUNGE, INC., APPELLANTS,
v.
JOHN THOMAS DOOLITTLE AND DOROTHY N. DOOLITTLE, HIS WIFE, JAMES CAPPATORTO, AND FOUR O'CLOCK, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1970-05-06
No. 69-190
WALDEN and REED, JJ., concur.
237 So. 2d 82 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1970) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Defendants who operated a bar appealed a jury verdict awarding damages to a plaintiff for assault and battery and negligence after he was struck on the head during an altercation at their establishment. The appellate court affirmed the judgment, finding sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict despite the defendants' conflicting testimony about the incident.


Holding

The appellate court held that the evidence, both circumstantial and direct, was sufficient to support the jury's verdict. When conflicting testimony exists, it is the jury's province to determine credibility. The court will not disturb a jury verdict unless it is unfounded in evidence or the product of passion, prejudice, or wrongful motive.


Headnotes

[1] A jury's verdict will not be disturbed unless it is unfounded in the evidence or wrought by passion, prejudice, or other wrongful motive.

[2] Where there is conflicting testimony, it is the province of the jury to determine the credibility of the witnesses.

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Key Quotes

“Where there is conflicting testimony it is the province of the jury to believe that which is true and to disregard that which is unworthy of credit.”

Establishes the standard that when facts are disputed, the jury determines credibility and the appellate court will not second-guess such determinations.

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Facts & Procedural History

On October 3, 1966, around 3:00-3:30 a.m., plaintiff entered the Four O'Clock Club in Hollywood, Florida to purchase a drink. An altercation arose bet…

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Opinion of the Court
MORROW, RUSSELL O. (Ret.), Associate Judge.

MORROW, RUSSELL O. (Ret.), Associate Judge.

This is an appeal by defendants-appellants from a final judgment, entered pursuant to a jury verdict, in favor of plaintiff-appellee in an assault and battery and negligence suit.

The facts are as follows: The Four O’Clock Club is a bar located in Hollywood, Florida and is owned by Four O’Clock Lounge, Inc. and Four O’Clock, Inc. At the time of the incident in controversy, the club was managed by the defendant, Camperlengo and Camperlengo was also President of Four O’Clock Lounge, Inc.

Sometime around 3:00 to 3:30 a. m. on the morning of October 3, 1966, the plaintiff entered the defendant’s premises for the purpose of purchasing a drink. The plaintiff had just come from another bar called Lennie’s, which had just closed. There are two different serving areas in the bar, one being referred to as the front bar and the other as the back bar. A front entrance to the building opens on the front bar; in the back bar area there is a doorway which opens in a hallway leading to an exit on the side of the building. The plaintiff went into the back bar.

An altercation arose between the plaintiff and the barmaid. The barmaid asked the plaintiff to leave and the plaintiff allegedly refused and in response thereto, the barmaid called the manager, Camper-lengo and he and another employee of the club, Mickey Rauso, began to physically evict the plaintiff from the premises, using the side exit. The plaintiff was aware that two men were following him in the hallway leading to the exit, saw some kind of a motion behind him, and then was struck on the head. He did not actually see someone strike him. He was later discovered out*83side the bar premises with blood coming from his ear.

The defendants deny that plaintiff had been hit while in the bar, saying that they had only escorted him outside.

A cab driver sitting in his cab testified he saw two men with motorcycle helmets on, come up to the plaintiff, outside of the bar and one of them hit him and then the two rode off on their motorcycles.

As a result of the blow to the head, which had been made on the back part of the head, the plaintiff sustained severe head injuries requiring extensive medical treatment and hospitalization. The plaintiff was left with a 30 to 35 percent permanent partial disability as to his body.

The appellants contend they should have been granted a directed verdict in that the evidence was insufficient and the verdict was based on speculation. They also assign as error the failure of the trial court to grant a new trial urging that the verdict was contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence and that neither assault and battery nor negligence was shown. A third contention is failure to obtain a new trial because the court excluded the deposition of one Fasano.

The record discloses that the evidence, circumstantial and direct, was quite sufficient to support the verdict. Where there is conflicting testimony it is the province of the jury to believe that which is true and to disregard that which is unworthy of credit. The court will not disturb the verdict of a jury unless it is unfounded in the evidence or wrought by passion, prejudice or other wrongful motive.

The claim that there-was no negligence and that the complaint ineffectively alleges negligence, is without merit. The allegation of negligence might have been more artfully drawn; however, the issue of negligence was tried and included in the court’s charge and no attack thereon was made at trial and none can be raised here. The trial judge correctly excluded the deposition in question.

Finding no error in this record the final judgment of the lower court is affirmed.

Affirmed.

WALDEN and REED, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Metro. Dade Cnty. v. Dillon, 305 So. 2d 36 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)
    …Fla.App.1958, 106 So. 2d 593; Shepherd v. Finer Foods, Inc., Fla.1964, 165 So. 2d 750; Franklin v. Dade [*39] County, Fla.App.1970, 230 So. 2d 730; Hodge v. Jacksonville Terminal Co., Fla.1970, 234 So. 2d 645; Camperlengo v. Doolittle, Fla.App.1970, 237 So. 2d 82, cert. denied, Fla.1970, 240 So. 2d 638. Both parties have argued that the other side offered theories of the accident which required the jury to draw unreasonable inferences to determine how the accident occurred. Our review of the record, however…
  • Camperlengo v. Doolittle, 240 So. 2d 638 (Fla. 1970)
    …Certiorari denied. 237 So. 2d 82. DREW, Acting C. J., and THORNAL, CARLTON, ADKINS and BOYD, JJ., concur.…

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