Kelly v. Haag

In Kelly v. Haag (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 910, after reviewing the pertinent legal principles relating to punitive damages awards, the Court explained a $ 75,000 punitive damages award lacked evidentiary support because an award of punitive damages could not be sustained without meaningful evidence of a defendant's financial condition, net worth or ability to pay, on which the plaintiff bore the burden of proof. (Kelly, supra, 145 Cal.App.4th at pp. 915-916.) There, the plaintiff only produced evidence of the defendant's statements about certain properties and assets without evidence that he still owned them at the time of trial, and produced no evidence of the defendant's liabilities, requiring the trial court to speculate as to any liabilities. (Id. at p. 917.)