Torts Keyed to Dobbs
Dickens v. Puryear
Facts
In April, 1975, Puryear (Defendant) and several accomplices lured Plaintiff into a rural section of North Carolina, threatened him with a pistol and, after handcuffing him to a piece of farming machinery, severely beat him with nightsticks. Puryear then brandished a knife and threatened Plaintiff with castration. The Defendants continued beating Plaintiff over the course of two hours before releasing him. * Dickens filed a complaint in March, 1978, alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress, and sought damages citing a series of physical ailments, nervous disorders, and loss of earnings. The trial court held that Plaintiff’s claims were time-barred by the one-year statute of limitations applicable to assault and battery. Plaintiff, on appeal, argued that the three-year statute of limitations pertaining to the intentional infliction of emotional distress should have been applied. * The court agreed with the Plaintiff, holding that while the perpetrators properly raised the limitations defense, on its merits, the Plaintiff’s claim was not altogether barred by the one-year statute because the factual showing indicated that the victim could prove a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, which was was in fact governed by the three-year statute, N.C. Gen. Stat. Section: 1-52(5).
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