Opinion ID: 1404934
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: punitive damage instructions

Text: We have considered Ford's contention that the trial court erred with respect to the punitive damages instruction it gave. A practice of long-standing in this Court's jurisprudence, indeed a venerated practice, is the giving of bare-bones instructions. [25] The instructions given here were taken from Palmore's Kentucky Instructions to Juries [26] and included the language of KRS 411.186. Moreover, counsel for the Estate reminded the jury time and again that the purpose of punitive damages was to punish wrongdoing. We discern no shortcoming in the instructions given that violates the standards set forth in Hanson v. American Bank, [27] nor has any other argument been advanced sufficient to persuade us to re-examine our long-standing practices and the authorities upon which they are based.