Bevis v. Terrace View Partners, LP, 244 Cal. Rptr. 3d 797 (2019)

Citation: Bevis v. Terrace View Partners, LP, 244 Cal. Rptr. 3d 797 (2019)
Parent Document: Bevis v. Terrace View Partners, LP, 244 Cal. Rptr. 3d 797 (2019)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 2019-02-28
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6240337/bevis-v-terrace-view-partners-lp/ ↗

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In summary, the jury instructions, testimony of plaintiffs and Caringella, and argument of counsel allowed the jury to incorrectly conclude it could properly award, under multiple theories, the difference between what plaintiffs paid in rent and what they would have paid had their rent been in the fair market range that Caringella quoted, and that it could also hold defendants liable in tort and award punitive damages against them for charging plaintiffs such "overpayment of rent" and for the diminution in the value of their homes the high rent caused. As the California Supreme Court has noted in the context of a criminal trial, " 'Jurors are not generally equipped to determine whether a particular theory ... submitted to them is contrary to law. ... When, therefore, jurors have been left the option of relying upon a legally inadequate theory, there is no reason to think that their own intelligence and expertise will save them from that error.' " ( People v. Guiton (1993) 4 Cal.4th 1116, 1125, 17 Cal.Rptr.2d 365, 847 P.2d 45, quoting Griffin v. United States (1991) 502 U.S. 46, 59, 112 S.Ct. 466, 116 L.Ed.2d 371.)

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