JONES v. BROOKS

CARLEY, Judge.

Appellant contracted to buy a house from appellee. Following an appraisal of the house by a prospective mortgagee, the parties entered into a second contract which provided that appellant would pay for all repairs required as a result of the appraisal. The repairs were eventually made, but at the expense of appellee. Appellant admitted that she was liable to appellee for the cost of the repairs, but she disputed the amount claimed by appellee. A jury trial was held, and appellee was awarded the full amount claimed as compensatory damages, plus exemplary damages. Appellant appeals.

1. Asserting that the evidence did not support the amount of the award of compensatory damages, appellant enumerates the general grounds.

"`It is the duty of an appellate court to construe the evidence [most] strongly in support of the verdict and against the appellant. [Cit.] That the evidence in a case may preponderate against a verdict is not the test. The rule is that this court cannot review the findings of juries, or judges, on issues of fact, unless, as a matter of law, a verdict has no evidence to support it. [Cits.]' [Cit.]" Allard Prods. v. Apollo Contractors, 163 Ga. App. 373, 374 ( 294 S.E.2d 594) (1982). Although the evidence of damages in the instant case was disputed, the amount awarded by the jury was within the range of evidence. Since the award was not "palpably unreasonable or excessive, or the product of bias, it will not be disturbed on appeal. [Cits.]" Thompson Enterprises v. Coskrey, 168 Ga. App. 181, 186 (3) ( 308 S.E.2d 399) (1983). See also Coursey Bldg. Assoc. v. Baker, 165 Ga. App. 521, 524 (6) ( 301 S.E.2d 688) (1983); Piedmont Bldrs. v. Fullerton, 157 Ga. App. 126 ( 276 S.E.2d 277) (1981).

2. Appellant also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury's award of exemplary damages. However, we need not examine the sufficiency of the evidence in this regard, because exemplary damages cannot be recovered in an action for breach of contract. OCGA § 13-6-10; Nestle Co. v. J. H. Ewing Sons, 153 Ga. App. 328, 332 (3) ( 265 S.E.2d 61) (1980). Unlike the situations in cases such as Harrell v. Gomez, 174 Ga. App. 8 ( 329 S.E.2d 302) (1985) and Clark v. Aenchbacher, 143 Ga. App. 282, 284 (1) ( 238 S.E.2d 442) (1977), the instant case involved neither allegations nor evidence of tortious conduct by appellant which would support an award of exemplary damages. Accordingly, that award must be stricken from the judgment. Hospital Auth. of Charlton County v. Bryant, 157 Ga. App. 330, 331 (3) ( 277 S.E.2d 322) (1981); Combined Contractors v. Welch, 160 Ga. App. 790, 791 (2) ( 288 S.E.2d 229) (1982).

3. Appellant's remaining enumeration of error is not supported by argument or by citation of authority, and is therefore deemed abandoned. Cohutta Mills v. Bunch, 166 Ga. App. 395, 396 (1) ( 304 S.E.2d 431) (1983).

Judgment affirmed with direction to strike the award of exemplary damages. Birdsong, P. J., concurs. Beasley, J., concurs in the judgment only.