Court Reverses Award in Police Misconduct Case : Litigation: Appeals panel overturns punitive damages assessment on the grounds that it is too large. Compensatory damages are upheld.

In a high-profile case involving former baseball star Joe Morgan, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for the first time in its history reversed a punitive damages award in a police misconduct case on the grounds that it is too large.

In a 2-1 decision, the appellate court ordered a federal trial judge in Los Angeles to review the $450,000 in punitive damages that jurors awarded to Morgan stemming from an incident at Los Angeles International Airport.

The appeals court unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that Morgan’s constitutional rights were violated when he was detained by Los Angeles Police Department Officer Clay Searle while waiting to take a flight to Phoenix in March, 1988.

The court also upheld $90,000 in compensatory damages awarded to Morgan, a star second baseman with the Cincinnati Reds powerhouse teams of the 1970s.

But the court ruled 2 to 1 that the trial judge, Mariana R. Pfaelzer, failed to give an adequate explanation of why she accepted the punitive damages award.

Thursday’s decision supplanted an earlier unanimous ruling by the appeals court, which reduced the punitive damage award but did not annul it.

The decision appears to reflect growing concern in some legal circles about the size of such awards.

Thursday’s ruling, by Appellate Judge Joseph T. Sneed and District Judge John M. Roll, sitting by designation, adds another complicated chapter to a case with a stormy history.

Searle was searching the airport for the partner of a suspected narcotics trafficker when he confronted Morgan. Morgan testified in 1991 that despite his attempts to identify himself, the policeman grabbed him around the neck, threw him to the floor, handcuffed him before a crowd of onlookers and dragged him to a room for questioning.

Searle retorted that he approached Morgan because the former player acted suspiciously and that he hurled him to the floor only after Morgan became aggressive.

Morgan, who is now a baseball broadcaster and businessman, was released. He later filed a lawsuit against Searle and the Police Department, accusing them of battery, inflicting emotional distress and violating his constitutional rights.

The first jury to hear the case ruled that Searle had acted properly. But Pfaelzer overruled the jury, holding that Morgan’s constitutional rights had been violated when he was detained.

A second jury heard the case and awarded him $300,000 in punitive damages on his federal constitutional claims and $150,000 in punitive damages on his state claims of false imprisonment and emotional distress.

Some jurors said they believed Morgan had been singled out because he is black.

Thursday’s ruling directs Pfaelzer to review the $150,000 punitive damage award on the issue of whether Searle has the capacity to pay it. It also orders Pfaelzer to review the $300,000 award in light of a Supreme Court decision suggesting that several factors be considered to determine if the award was excessive.

The majority opinion was written by Appellate Judge Joseph T. Sneed and District Judge John M. Roll

Circuit Court Judge Dorothy Nelson issued a sharp dissent on the federal punitive damages ruling.