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Can a judge revisit a settlement to add triple damages?

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amizar

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mass.

About 2.5 years ago I was the plaintiff in a civil case against a deadbeat contractor who took my downpayment for a job and disappeared. I won a default judgment against him and initiated a supplementary process in his county. After numerous court appearances (half of which he missed), enforced capiases, and a lot of half-efforts and lies, I have still not been paid the amount of the original settlement. To date, he has only repaid me for the bulk of the court costs, but the last payment on that was nearly a year ago. About 2 months ago he said that he had finally gotten a new job (after being unemployed for awhile) and promised to get me at least 50% of what he owed me by the next hearing. Not only did that not happen (for the umpteenth time), but he failed to show up for the hearing until well after I had left the building. Last year the judge ordered him to have his lawyer prepare documentation for a lien on an injury settlement he had pending, and this was never done either. The basic point in all of this is that he was a fraud from the start, and has perpetually made promises that he has never kept. Further more, I found out that he has a boat... something he didn't mention when the court was trying to identify his assets.

Anyway, I'm truly getting sick of all the time and effort I've wasted on this, and want to know if the judge in the court where I've pursued the supplementary process can revisit the original default judgement to add triple damages. I understand that this is one of the few times a punitive damage can be assessed, and believe the defendant's continuing behavior warrants this. Do I have a legal leg to stand on?

PS: I don't want to seize his boat or have to pay any associated costs with seizing/selling it. I have nowhere to put it!
 



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