Medo v. Superior Court

Opinion

ANDERSON, P. J.

This petition raises the question of whether the issue of punitive damages may be tried to a jury which has not determined the liability of the defendant. We conclude that a bifurcation which results in separate juries is prohibited by Civil Code section 3295, subdivision (d). (All further statutory references are to the Civil Code unless otherwise indicated.) We also conclude, however, that real party waived the application of this section and that, therefore, the trial court erred in requiring a retrial of the liability issue. We issue our writ of mandate to require…