N.C.P.I.—Civil 800.71

The (state number) issue reads:

“What amount is the plaintiff entitled to recover?”

If you have answered the (state number) issue “Yes” in favor of the

plaintiff, the plaintiff is entitled to recover nominal damages even

without proof of actual damages. Nominal damages consist of some

trivial amount such as one dollar in recognition of the technical damage

caused by the defendant’s offensive intrusion upon the privacy of the

plaintiff.

The plaintiff may also be entitled to recover actual damages. On

this issue the burden of proof is on the plaintiff. This means that the

plaintiff must prove, by the greater weight of the evidence, the amount of

actual damages caused by the defendant’s offensive intrusion upon the

privacy of the plaintiff.

(Here give appropriate instructions as to the type of damage

claimed if supported by the evidence, e.g., pain and mental suffering1,

loss of earnings2, medical expenses3, etc.).4

I instruct you that if you reach this issue,5 your decision must be

based on the evidence and the rules of law I have given you with respect

to the measure of damages. You are not required to accept the amount

of damages suggested by the parties or their attorneys. Your award must

be fair and just. You should remember that you are not seeking to

punish either party, and you are not awarding or withholding anything on

the basis of sympathy or pity.

Finally, as to this (state number) issue on which the plaintiff has

the burden of proof, if you find, by the greater weight of the evidence,

the

amount of actual damages caused by the wrongful conduct of the

defendant, then it would be your duty to write that amount in the blank

space provided.

If, on the other hand, you fail to so find, then it would be your duty

to write a nominal sum such as “One Dollar” in the blank space provided.