In a historical civil sexual assault action, the parties resolved liability, compensatory damages, special damages, and pre-judgment interest shortly before a summary judgment motion, leaving punitive damages and costs for determination.
Applying the punitive damages framework from Whiten, the court held that punitive damages were not warranted because the defendant had already been punished through a nine-year penitentiary sentence imposed for substantially the same misconduct, and the civil court should not effectively re-try the adequacy of that criminal sentence.
The court found one alleged category of misconduct involving a protected plaintiff outside the criminally addressed timeframe could not be fairly resolved on the paper record and raised a genuine issue requiring a trial.
Costs were awarded to the plaintiffs on a substantial indemnity basis under the Victims’ Bill of Rights, 1995 in the all-inclusive amount of $145,000.00.
