Stewart v. Estate of Cooper

Opinion of the Court by

Justice KELLER.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter presents an issue of first impression. Appellants suffered injuries in an automobile collision caused by a drunken driver, and later filed a lawsuit in which they sought compensatory and punitive damages. The driver, however, died before trial, and upon Appellants’ motion, the trial court substituted the decedent driver’s estate as a party defendant. The trial court then granted the estate’s motion to dismiss Appellant’s punitive damage *914claim and ruled that KRS 411.184 does not authorize a punitive damage award against a party —…