Judge overturns jury verdict in Rolland Comstock wrongful death lawsuit

Judge also refuses new trial request from Comstock's daughter

August 25, 2011|by Mike Landis, KY3 News | mlandis@ky3.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A Greene County judge overruled what a jury decided this summer in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the ex-wife of attorney Rolland Comstock, who was murdered in his home north of Springfield in July 2007.

Comstock's adopted daughter, Faith Stocker, filed a wrongful death suit against her mother, Alberta Comstock, claiming Alberta was responsible for the death of Rolland Comstock. In early July, a jury sided with Stocker.

In a court hearing on Tuesday, Circuit Judge Michael Cordonnier granted a motion by Alberta Comstock to overturn the jury's decision. The judge also denied a request by Stocker to amend the judgment or to get a new trial.

When the jury issued its verdict, it awarded Stocker no money "for actual damages and $125,000 for damages based on aggravating circumstances," according to the judge's ruling. Cordonnier found that, under Missouri case law, "[no] punitive damages may be awarded absent an award of actual or nominal damages."

Stocker's attorney asked the judge to amend the jury verdict "to award her actual damages, or at least nominal damages, where the jury did not. This Court does not have the latitude to interpose a finding of actual or nominal damages. This possibility has been considered, and reject by courts previously."

Stocker also asked for a new trial on the issue of damages only.

"This Court does not have the latitude to grant her a new trial as a result of the inconsistent verdict," Cordonnier wrote. He said Stocker's attorney should have recognized the "inconsistent verdict" and asked the judge "to instruct the jury to award . . . nominal damages."

Stocker also asked that the judge "distinguish between aggravating circumstances damages and punitive damages, and thereafter determine the law applicable to punitive damages should not apply to her wrongful death claim." Cordonnier wrote that Missouri law doesn't allow him to do that.

No one is criminally charged for Rolland Comstock's death. Former Greene County prosecuting attorney Darrell Moore said in an interview by Skype that the erroneous jury verdict makes the case a "mess" and shows how hard it would be for a prosecutor to prove a criminal charge, which carries a higher standard of proof than the wrongful death civil lawsuit.

"Some crimes are never solved. The good thing they [plantiffs] need to keep in mind is there is no statute of limitiations for murder. So, its conceivable that 5, 10, 15, even 25 years out, (as with the Jackie Johns case last fall), there might be sufficient evidence to file a criminal case. So, they should hold that as a consolation," Moore said.

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