VA · jury_instructions
Va. Model Jury Instr. Civ. No. 41.150
Punitive Damages
If you find that the plaintiff is entitled to be compensated for his damages, and if you further
believe by the greater weight of the evidence that the defendant acted with actual malice in
instituting the criminal proceeding against the plaintiff, then you may award punitive damages to
the plaintiff to punish the defendant for his actions and to serve as an example to prevent others
from acting in a similar way.
Actual malice is a sinister or corrupt motive such as hatred, personal spite, ill will, a desire to
injure the plaintiff, or a conscious disregard of the rights of others. Actual malice may not be
inferred from a lack of probable cause.
If you award punitive damages, you must state separately in your verdict the amount you allow
as compensatory damages, if any, 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
8b55255cd538590fd7968b588555eb86aa26030a499864c49dd1f63b1ee91572
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