Judge Reduces $200 Million Punitive Damage Award, Orders New Trial

LOS ANGELES -- A California trial court judge has reduced a $200 million punitive damage award and ordered a new trial on the issue of fault, throwing out a jury's allocation of 70 percent liability to defendant CertainTeed, sources told HarrisMartin. Evans v. A.W. Chesterton Co., et al., No. BC418867 (Calif. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty.).

In the July 20 order, Judge Conrad Aragon of the California Superior Court for Los Angeles County granted the defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial, specifically citing the issue of allocation of fault to third parties.

The …