Stone v. Fidelity National Ins.
Plaintiffs and appellants Larry Stone (plaintiff Stone) and Linda Della Pelle (plaintiff Pelle) (collectively plaintiffs) sued defendant and appellant Fidelity National Insurance Co. (Fidelity) for breach of an insurance contract and for bad faith for allegedly undervaluing damage to plaintiffs home, which was damaged during a fire. Upon a loss, the insurance policy required Fidelity to pay actual cash value until plaintiffs completed repair of the home within a certain time period, at which point, the policy required Fidelity to pay replacement cost value.
Following a jury trial, the trial court entered judgment awarding plaintiffs $160,956.42 in economic damages, which amount represented the difference between the actual cash value amount actually paid by Fidelity and the amount of actual cash value the jury determined that Fidelity should have paid. The jury also awarded plaintiffs $5,163,217 in punitive damages. In the judgment, the trial court awarded plaintiffs $64,382.56 for attorney fees pursuant to Brandt v. Superior Court (1985) 37 Cal.3d 813 (Brandt), leaving costs for a later determination.
Finally, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by ruling that if Fidelity intended to produce an out of state witness for its case in chief, it must also produce the same witness for plaintiffs case in chief.
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