California Verdicts
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Amount:
$5,700,000
Type:
Verdict-Plaintiff
State:
California
Venue:
Orange County
Court:
Superior Court of Orange County, Orange
Injury Type(s):
mental/psychological-emotional distress
Case Type:
Intentional Torts – False Imprisonment (Non-Governmental), Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Case Name:
Kelli Peters, Bill Peters and Jane Doe Minor 1, by and through her Guardian Ad Litem, Kelli Peters v. Jill B. Easter and Kent W. Easter,
No. 30-2012-00588580-CU-PO-CJC
Date:
February 5, 2016
Plaintiff(s):
"Jane Doe" (Female),
Bill Peters (Male),
Kelli Peters (Female)
Plaintiff Attorney(s):
Robert H. Marcereau, II;
Marcereau & Nazif;
Foothill Ranch,
CA,
for
"Jane Doe", Bill Peters, Kelli Peters
Defendant(s):
Jill B. Easter,
Kent W. Easter
Defense Attorney(s):
Jill B. Easter;
pro se;
Irvine,
CA,
for
Jill B. Easter ■ Kent W. Easter;
pro se;
Newport Beach,
CA,
for
Kent W. Easter
In February 2011, plaintiff Kelli Peters, an after-school program coordinator for a program that hosted at least 50 students at Plaza Vista School, in Irvine, was detained and questioned by police at the school after police found prescription pills, a bag of marijuana, and a used pipe in her vehicle. It was eventually determined that the drugs were planted in Peters’ vehicle. The police were perviously notified about the contents of the vehicle by a caller who allegedly used a contrived Indian accent. It was later determined that the call was made from a hotel business center in Newport Beach, which had security cameras. The security footage revealed that the caller was Kent Easter, the father of a 7-year-old boy who participated in the after-school program that Peters supervised. Peters claimed that Kent Easter and his wife, Jill Easter, planted the drugs in her vehicle in response to a prior argument and then called the police on her. Ms. Easter subsequently served about 60 days in jail, and Mr. Easter served 87 days for the scheme. Kelli Peters; her husband, plaintiff Bill Peters; and their minor daughter sued the Easters. Ms. Peters alleged that the Easters’ actions caused her to be falsely imprisoned. The Peters family also alleged that the Easters’ actions constituted intentional infliction of emotional distress. Ms. Peters claimed that the situation escalated from a prior incident back in 2010, when Ms. Easter, who now goes by the name Ava Everheart, came to pick up her then-6-year-old son from school and found that he was not waiting for her outside when she arrived to pick him up. Ms. Easter went inside the school to find her son and asked Ms. Peters if she had seen her son. Ms. Peters claimed that she told Ms. Easter that maybe her son was just "slow to line up" for his ride home, which caused Ms. Easter to become furious after Ms. Easter allegedly interpreted the as an insult about her son’s intelligence. Ms. Peters claimed that from then on, the Easters attempted to get her fired from her volunteer position and that when their attempts failed, the Easters concocted the scheme to plant drugs in her car. Ms. Peters claimed that the scheme caused her family undue stress and anxiety, and forced her to move her young daughter to a new school. Just before trial, Mr. Easter filed for bankruptcy. Plaintiffs’ counsel was able to obtain an emergency relief from stay to allow the trial to move forward. As a result, the Easters represented themselves at trial. The Easters contended that Ms. Peters was responsible for bringing the children from the after-school activities behind the school to the front of the school for pick up, but that on the day of their argument in 2010, Ms. Peters had grown frustrated with the children that she had been supervising and intentionally left their son locked out behind the school. However, the Easters ultimately stipulated to liability regarding the February 2011 incident.
Ms. Peters claimed that the scheme caused her family undue stress and anxiety, and forced her to move her young daughter to a new school. The Peters family also claimed that they suffered severe emotional distress — including fear, humiliation and anxiety — as result of the Easters’ actions. They also claimed that the Easters’ actions constituted malice, oppression, or fraud. Thus, the Peters sought recovery of damages for their emotional distress, as well as recovery of punitive damages. The Easters claimed that Ms. Peters testified that the family had attended counseling, but that no other evidence was presented. Thus, they claimed that, with respect to damages, Ms. Peters was embellishing the truth to make her family’s alleged damages seem worse than they were.
The jury determined that the Peters’ damages totaled $5.7 million, including $2.1 million in compensatory damages, $2.1 million in punitive damages against Ms. Easter, and $1.5 million in punitive damages against Mr. Easter.
Actual Award:
$5,365,000
Judge:
H. Michael Brenner
Demand:
$1,000,000
Offer:
$80,000
Trial Length:
4
days
Trial Deliberations:
1
days
Jury Vote:
12-0
Post Trial:
After the Easters objected to improper stacking of damages for false imprisonment and intentional interference with economic relations and agreement, Judge Michael Brenner entered judgment on Feb. 29, 2016, which included $1,765,000 in compensatory damages, $2.1 million in punitive damages against Ms. Easter, and $1.5 million in punitive damages against Mr. Easter. The Easters moved for JNOV on punitive damages and for a new trial on compensatory damages. The motions are pending.
This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiffs’ counsel and the individual defendants.