PJC General Negligence 2022

T HEFT L IABILITY

PJC 7.7

PJC 7.7 Additional Damages—Question If you found, in answer to Question[ s ] ______ [ applicable damages ques tion(s) ], that Paul Payne sustained actual damages, then answer the following question. Otherwise, do not answer the following question. QUESTION ______ You are instructed that, in order for you to find additional damages, your answer to this question must be unanimous. What sum of money, if any, if paid now in cash, should be assessed against Don Davis and awarded to Paul Payne as additional damages, if any, for the conduct found in response to Question ______ [ liability question for Texas Theft Liability Act claim ]? Answer in dollars and cents, if any. Answer: _______________ COMMENT When to use. PJC 7.7 is used to submit additional damages. It should be pred icated on a finding of liability on a Texas Theft Liability Act claim and an award of actual damages. A “person who has sustained damages resulting from theft may recover . . . the amount of actual damages found by the trier of fact and, in addition to actual damages, damages awarded by the trier of fact in a sum not to exceed $1,000.” Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 134.005(a)(1). The damages cap of $1,000 can be applied postverdict. See, e.g., Beaumont v. Basham , 205 S.W.3d 608, 625 (Tex. App.—Waco 2006, pet. denied) (reversing trial court’s award of $10,000 in additional damages and rendering judgment that plaintiff recover statutory maximum of $1,000). Answer must be unanimous. See Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Forte , 497 S.W.3d 460, 464 (Tex. 2016) (holding that Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code chapter 41 “applies to any action in which a claimant seeks damages relating to a cause of action”). See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.003(d).

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