Opinion ID: 2275888
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction, procedural background, and issue

Text: In a 4-3 plurality decision in Sand Hill Energy, Inc. v. Ford Motor Company, [1] this Court reversed a decision of the Court of Appeals and reinstated a $3 million compensatory award and $15 million of the original $20 million punitive damages award in this wrongful death action. When Sand Hill I became final, Ford Motor Company (Ford) filed a petition for a writ of certiorari before the United States Supreme Court, arguing that the $15 million punitive damages award was unconstitutional. While Ford's petition was pending, the United States Supreme Court decided State Farm Mutual Insurance Co. v. Campbell , [2] in which it invalidated a $145 million punitive damages award in a Utah case involving bad faith and fraud in the context of an insurance settlement. Thereafter, the United States Supreme Court granted Ford's petition for certiorari, vacated Sand Hill I, and remanded the matter to this Court for further consideration in light of State Farm . Because Ford's petition for certiorari addressed only the constitutionality of the punitive damages award, Ford has since paid the full value of the compensatory damages award, with interesta total amount of $5,596,425.00and the parties agree that the only issue remaining before the Court is the viability of the $20 million punitive damages award. After reviewing State Farm and the evidence of the defendant's out-of-state conduct presented to the jury in Sand Hill, we vacate the punitive damages award and remand the case for a new determination of the amount of punitive damages because the trial court's jury instructions failed to include a limiting instruction concerning extraterritorial punishment.