VA · jury_instructions
Va. Model Jury Instr. Civ. No. 37.111
Punitive Damages (Not Defamatory Per Se)
If you find that the plaintiff is entitled to recover compensatory damages, and if you further
find by clear and convincing evidence that a defendant made the statements knowing the
statement was false or made the statements so recklessly as to amount to a willful disregard for
the truth, that is, with a high degree of awareness that the statement was probably false, then you
may also award punitive damages to punish that defendant for such actions and to serve as an
example to prevent others from making such statements in the future.
If you award punitive damages, you must state separately in your verdict any amount you allow
as compensatory damages and the amount you allow as punitive damages.
History
Virginia Model Jury Instructions – Civil, Release 26, April 2026. The unannotated set, posted by the Supreme Court of Virginia at vacourts.gov; the book states that it is made available with the permission of the publisher, Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.
Provenance
- Source
- vacourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-11
- Edition
- civ-2026-04-01
- Content hash
61987b0687e5b9a587485ab239144a52f3ebbc3ebe99c0f2ffd43339eaf3909a
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