THE RECORD CONFIRMED THAT THE TRIAL COURT CONSIDERED AND WEIGHED EVIDENCE OFFERED BY THE PARTIES AND PERFORMED ITS GATEKEEPING FUNCTION, BEFORE CONCLUDING THAT THE PLAINTIFF PROVIDED A REASONABLE EVIDENTIARY BASIS FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES

Gattorno v. Souto, 49 Fla. L. Weekly D678 (Fla. 3rd DCA Mar. 27, 2024):

In what seems to be the first personal injury case allowing a punitive damages proffer since the Florida Supreme Court amended the non-final appeal rule to allow these appeals, the court affirmed the trial court’s ruling because the defendant driver was intoxicated when she struck the plaintiff with her car.

The proffer included deposition testimony from four people and addressed how the driver was at a bar before the crash, was there until 2 a.m., and it contained various snippets about the number of drinks that the driver had.

The court found that the record confirmed that the trial court considered and weighed the evidence offered by the parties, acted as a factfinder, and performed its gatekeeping role before ruling that the plaintiff could seek punitive damages. It rejected the defendants’ suggestion that evidence of intoxication while driving does not provide the requisite “reasonable basis” for recovery of punitive damages and affirmed that the proffered evidence supported that conclusion.