Turnage v. Kasper

This case demonstrates the deleterious consequences that flow from neighbors turning the admonition to “love your neighbor as yourself” on its head. Christine E. Kasper sued her neighbors, Mark Turnage and Bryant Daniel Penton collectively, “Appellants”, for, inter alia , malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and defamation, after the men had her arrested for aggravated stalking because she had the temerity to walk past them while retrieving her children from their designated bus stop. Kasper spent two weeks in jail before the case was eventually dismissed for lack of probable cause. On a verdict form that set out Kasper’s causes of action separately, a Cobb County jury awarded her compensatory damages against the Appellants on every claim, as well as attorneys’ fees, in a verdict totaling $210,500. The trial court then entered judgment on the jury’s verdict against the Appellants jointly and severally.1 This appeal follows. Appellants argue that the jury’s verdict was not supported by the evidence, and that the jury’s separate awards of monetary damages to Kasper on her claims for malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress constitute an impermissible double recovery. For the reasons noted infra , we affirm the jury’s verdict as to all claims against Appellant Turnage, and as to the claims of malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Appellant Penton. We are constrained to conclude, however, that the evidence did not justify a finding of liability against Penton for defamation. We, therefore, reverse the defamation judgment against Penton, and remand the case to the trial court for a retrial solely on the issue of damages against Turnage for his defamation of Kasper.

At the outset, we note that while Kasper’s claims were limited to only a few specific events, such that the facts underlying her lawsuit are relatively finite in nature, it is necessary to provide a detailed history of the long and tortured relationship between the parties in order to place this case in its proper context.