No. 87-5122. Non-Argument Calendar.United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.
April 14, 1989.
Keith C. Tischler, Parker, Skelding, Costigan, McVoy Labasky, Tallahassee, Fla., for defendant-appellant.
Evan I. Fetterman and Salvatore Scibetta, Fetterman
Associates, North Palm Beach, Fla., for plaintiffs-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Before HILL, VANCE and CLARK, Circuit Judges.
Page 1457
PER CURIAM:
[1] In Lohr and Randolph v. State of Florida, 835 F.2d 1404 (11th Cir. 1987), this court affirmed the decision of the trial court denying Ault’s request for a new trial and upholding the award of damages as to Randolph. However, we reserved ruling on the award of damages as to Lohr in order to certify a question to the Florida Supreme Court. In a separate opinion at 835 F.2d 1402, we certified to the Florida Supreme Court the question of whether, in Florida, a compensatory damages award must underlie a punitive damages award in a case in which the jury has made express findings against a defendant. [2] The Florida Supreme Court has answered the question in the negative, concluding that a jury finding of liability is the equivalent of finding nominal damages, and consequently, the jury may assess punitive damages. Ault v. Lohr, 538 So.2d 454(1989). [3] In light of this authoritative interpretation of state law, the judgment of the district court upholding the award of punitive damages as to Lohr is AFFIRMED.