Arzaga

This was an action for the recovery of personal property and damages. The plaintiff obtained judgment for the possession of the property, or its value in the sum of $350, and for the sum of $530 damages.

1. The defendant contends that there is no evidence that justifies the award of damages. And it is quite true that there is no evidence of actual damage (the property itself having been returned) beyond a small sum expended in pursuit of the property. But “in any action for the breach of an obligation not arising from contract, where the defendant has been guilty of oppres *192 sion, fraud, or malice, actual or presumed, the jury, in addition to the actual damages, may give damages for the sake of example, and by way of punishing the defendant.” (Civ. Code, sec. 3294.)

And we think that the circumstances of the case justified the award which the jury made. The plaintiff was the daughter of the defendant, and lived in his house with her two children, one of whom was about four years old, and the other a baby. The property consisted principally of her clothes and furniture. There is evidence tending to show that, about ten days after her mother’s death, the defendant became angry…