Opinion ID: 1057370
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Evidence of Defendant's Finances

Text: ¶ 10. Next, defendant argues that the court erred when it allowed the issue of punitive damages to go to the jury without there having been admitted any evidence as to defendant's financial ability to pay a punitive damage award. As it appears that defendant's argument is one of law, we will proceed with de novo review. See Vt. Alliance of Nonprofit Orgs. v. City of Burlington, 2004 VT 57, ¶ 5, 177 Vt. 47, 857 A.2d 305. ¶ 11. We have never held that proof of a defendant's actual means is essential to the recovery of punitive damages. See Parker v. Hoefer, 118 Vt. 1, 20-21, 100 A.2d 434, 446-47 (1953). We have held only that such proof is relevant to the calculation of punitive damages. Lent v. Huntoon, 143 Vt. 539, 550, 470 A.2d 1162, 1170 (1983). Defendant nonetheless claims that because plaintiffs' counsel (in his opening statement) and plaintiff Leslie Shahi (on direct examination) referred to defendant as wealthy, it was unfair to submit the punitive damages question to the jury without admit[ting] evidence of [d]efendant's financial standing. We disagree. ¶ 12. The record reveals that defendant did not proffer any evidence as to defendant's actual financial means, but rather that defense counsel attempted to establish defendant's lack of wealth by cross-examining one of plaintiffs' witnesses. In addition, defense counsel failed to object to any of plaintiffs' counsel's references to defendant as a wealthy businessman, the court struck plaintiff Leslie Shahi's statement as to defendant's wealth upon defense counsel's hearsay objection, and plaintiffs' counsel elicited testimony and made statements in his closing remarks tending to clarify that defendant's financial status was unknown to plaintiffs. The trial court found that plaintiffs' attorney diligently and thoroughly sought discovery as to defendant's finances but that defendant failed to produce much of the information sought. The court noted that to rule otherwise would give incentive for defendants to hide assets, to not produce the [financial] material in order to avoid a punitive claim. Under the circumstances, it was not unfair, nor was it error, for the trial court to submit the issue of punitive damages to the jury absent additional evidence as to defendant's financial standing.