2005 Idaho Code - 6-1604 — LIMITATION ON PUNITIVE DAMAGES

                                   TITLE  6
                         ACTIONS IN PARTICULAR CASES
                                  CHAPTER 16
               [PERIODIC PAYMENT OF JUDGMENTS -- LIMITATION ON
                    CERTAIN TORT DAMAGES AND LIABILITIES]
    6-1604.  LIMITATION ON PUNITIVE DAMAGES. (1) In any action seeking
recovery of punitive damages, the claimant must prove, by clear and convincing
evidence, oppressive, fraudulent, malicious or outrageous conduct by the party
against whom the claim for punitive damages is asserted.
    (2)  In all civil actions in which punitive damages are permitted, no
claim for damages shall be filed containing a prayer for relief seeking
punitive damages. However, a party may, pursuant to a pretrial motion and
after hearing before the court, amend the pleadings to include a prayer for
relief seeking punitive damages. The court shall allow the motion to amend the
pleadings if, after weighing the evidence presented, the court concludes that,
the moving party has established at such hearing a reasonable likelihood of
proving facts at trial sufficient to support an award of punitive damages. A
prayer for relief added pursuant to this section shall not be barred by lapse
of time under any applicable limitation on the time in which an action may be
brought or claim asserted, if the time prescribed or limited had not expired
when the original pleading was filed.
    (3)  No judgment for punitive damages shall exceed the greater of two
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) or an amount which is three (3)
times the compensatory damages contained in such judgment. If a case is tried
to a jury, the jury shall not be informed of this limitation. The limitations
on noneconomic damages contained in section 6-1603, Idaho Code, are not
applicable to punitive damages.
    (4)  Nothing in this section is intended to change the rules of evidence
used by a trier of fact in finding punitive damages.