'.~. ], b ~' JURY CHARGE seeking punitive damages against the Defendants Notias for Plaintiffs' injuries, okay. You may, but are not required to, award plaintiffs p~nitive damages if you find that the act of the D~fendants Notias that caused the injuries complained of was wanton and reckless. The purpose of punitivq damages is to punish the defendants for wanton and reckless acts, and the r ep y to dis co u,. age the De fen dan t s Not i:a san d o~her? from acting in a similar way in the ls b future. Okay. naw this is different from negligence, which is the first part of the case. This is a separate set,of questions about punitive damage s. Now, an act is wanton and reckless when it is done in su:h a way and under such cfrcumstances as to show conscious indijference and utter dis~egard of its effect upon the sfety and rights of others to the extent that it :s morally culpaole, so to award punitive damages in this case you must find that th~ Defendants Notiases, one, knew about the dangers of lead paint to children, two, knew that there were children under seven years old living in the... -:..-,....
0 :::< b b apartment, three, knew that there was peeling and chipping paint in the plaintiff's apartment\ four, knew that other apartments in the building had lead paint problems, and five, knowing this, deliberately did not take steps to correct the lead paint conditions in the Plaintiffs' apartment~ despite tnis knowledge- Okay, also in order to award punitive damages you must find that the Defendants Not~~s - :..<: had actual knowledge of those factors r just mentioned. Remember, earlier we talked about imp~tin knowledge from the employee to the employer, Ubi Torres to the Defendants Notias- That is permissible on the negligence questions- t is not permissible when.you consider punitive damages- You must find that the Defendants NotidS actually had knowledge, not just the super :L. did, o~,ay Also, the standard of proof is different when it comes to punitive damages because, again, it's not compensatory, but punitive for all the other actions- t is the preponderance of the evidence as mentioned, but for punitive damages you must find those items listed, those five factors, you must find them by clear and :",",", ~. "'.:.,"
] JURY CHARGE 6 ls b.j apartments in the building had lead paint, deliberately did not take steps to correct the conditions, okay, then you may find punitive damages. But,.if you don't find those facts within a high probability, you may not award punitive damages against the Notiases, all right. Also, if you decide to award puni~ive damages, in arriving at your decision as to Ehe a~ount of punitive damages to award, you should consider the following factors: The nature and reprehensibility of what the defendants did. That would incllde the character of the wrongdoing, whether, the defendants conduct demonstrated an indifferente to, or a reckless di~regard of the health and safety of others, how 'ong the conduct went on, the defendants' awarepess of what harm the conduct caused Qr w~s likely to cause, how often the defendant had committed similar acts of this type in the past. n considering the amount of punitive damages to award, you should weigh this factor heavily. Also, you shoulj consider the actual and potential harm :reated by defendants' conduct. ihat means that the amount of punitive damages, -r
convincing evidence, okay, and that means tl t the evidence satisfies you that there's a hl~. 6 6 " S degree of probability that those factors were done, that they had the knowledge, and trley didn l t act, despite that, delioerately d:on' t dct, and despite that knowledge, their a::::s were wanton, reckless, and to :he degree of ~oral culpability, okay, but to decide that, it's not enough. The burden of proof rests on the plaintif-fs. -he law requires that in ordertfor the par~y to prevail, the party must prove those elements that support her claim must appeal to you as more nearly representing what happened than the evi~ence opposed to it. A party must establish their case by clear and convincing evidence, which applies to punitive damages, and must satisfy you that the evidence makes it highly probable than what the plaintiffs' claim "- actually happened. f upon all th~ evidence you are satisfied there's a high probability that the defendants Notias knew about the dangers of lead paint to children, knew there were children under seven in the apartment knew there was peeling or chipping paint in the apartment, knew that the other ""' ~ ~ ij ' i.'.
l.~ _i'r 6 B :,0 6 JURY CHARGE if any, you award must be both reasonable and proportionate to the actual and potential harm that the plaintiffs suffered in the case, so in other wo~ds, this has to be proportionate to the compensatory damages that you find, also the defendants' financial condition, and the impact your punitive d~mages award will have on the defendants, all right. Now, in a couple of minutes you'll be given what's called a special verdict sheet, which counsel made reference to- t's a series of questions- Mest of the questions call for a yes or no answer. Some call for percentages. Some call for dollar amounts, all right. NO\lh you will start with the first question, and go t hr 0 ugh the m As you fin ish e a c h que s t ion, t h.e he g~t will t e you w hi c h que s t ion tog 0 -"t c next, -.; depending on what your answer ~ay be. While it is important that all the views of the jurors be considered, you only need fi~e of the six jurors to agree on the answer to dry question. t does not have to be the same five or six jurors on each question. One set of five could agree on question one, or a different group of five can agree on question two, and so on.... :.....' :... -~... ",
b 6 After you have reached your decision on each question, there's a space for each of you to write on the verdict sheet whether you answer yes, or (\0, or agree, or disdgree with the number given, okay, and after you answer all the questions that require answering, you will report back to the Court, and that will te your verdict. You s h 0 U d not ass U \e fro m t r e 0 r din 0 f. any of the questions, or my instructions, on the questions what the answers to any 0 f the questions should be. The answer should be that whicn you believe the evidence justifies. A r i h t, now tho sea r.e the r u e S 0 f a \ that apply to this case. hav~ explained how you should conduct your deliberations, and the processes by which you will weigh the evidence. ' a mo-me nt you' reg 0i n tor e t ire t 0 t~e,;~~~'..~.,.. 6~~de~ jury room to begin your deliberations- n for the deliberations to proceed, you have to have a foreperson. Normally, juror number one is the foreperson. n this case Miss Yates will be the foreperson. Her vote is entitled to no greater weight than any of the other jurors. Your function to reach a fair decision from the.f' ',v.
.~. JURY CHARGE deliberations and render a true and impartial verdict. follow the Court officer. (Whereupon, the jury left the courtroom). b ' b THE COURT: Are there any addi tional objections to the charge as read? MR. CASADEVALL: None by the Plaintiff. MR. GREENBERG : None by Defend ant. MR. CASADEVALL: Judge, think you have to segregate the alternates. THE CLERK: Yeah, we are. R. CASADEVALL: You are, oh, all right. THE COURT: Normally, know the rules require that we dismiss the alternates at this point. tend not to do that just in case something happens. would never put the,.. alte~rnate in a case, unless both sides consented. :~'". had a case where after several days or trial, five minutes after we had to excuse the jury, we had no alternates left, and had a mistr:al, so unless you have an objection, no, the alternates will not be put in once deliberations start j without consent. S MR. CASADEVALL: Very good. -'
6 6 a J ), 6 i! S law and the evidence~ as explained it to y ~, is an important one. When you are in the jurl room, you should listen to each other and Cisass the case and the evidence and issues before you openly and honestly and with resoect for ea~h others opinions. t is your dut~ as jurors to discuss with one another, and deliberate wi~h a view of reaching an agreement on a verdict if you can do so without violating your individual judgment and your conscience- None of you should surrender honest convictions abo~t what the truth is and of the weight and the effect of the evidence as you heard it, and while each of you must decide the case for yourself and not ~erely go along with the decisions of others~ you should examine the issues and discuss them with candor~ and frankness~ and with respect for the views of the o:ther jurors- Remember~ while you ar;~e delib~rating that the dispute between the parties and the Court is a very important matter. They and the Court rely upon you to give full and conscientious deliberation and consideration to the issues and evidence before you, so finally, once again remind you of the oaths you took as jurors. charge you to retire for your -'