Iino v. Spalter

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to recover compensatory and punitive damages from the defendant executrix of the estate of the decedent for, inter alia, intentional sexual assault in connection with the decedent's sexual abuse of the plaintiff. The plaintiff alleged that her father, the decedent, had sexually abused her repeatedly in Connecticut from when she was six years old until she was seventeen, that she suffered extreme trauma, mental anguish and psychological injuries as a result of the decedent's sexual abuse and that her injuries were permanent. The defendant filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, which the trial court denied. Thereafter, the defendant filed a motion in limine to preclude evidence of other wrongs or acts of verbal and physical abuse committed by the decedent against the plaintiff, her brothers and the family dog. The court denied the motion in limine but stated that it was reserving judgment on specific objections to such evidence until the evidence was offered at trial. Following the trial, the jury found in favor of the plaintiff and returned a verdict awarding her $15 million in compensatory damages. The jury also found that the plaintiff was entitled to an award of punitive damages, but it was not asked to determine the amount of the punitive damages to be awarded. Thereafter, the trial court denied the defendant's motion to set aside the verdict and rendered judgment in accordance with the verdict, reserving to itself the finding as to the amount of the punitive damages award, which would be determined later. On the defendant's appeal to this court, held: 1. The trial court properly denied the defendant's motion to dismiss; contrary to the defendant's claim that that court's assertion of personal jurisdic- tion over her violated her right to due process because she personally had no minimum contacts with Connecticut, because the court could have exercised jurisdiction over the decedent pursuant to this state's long arm stat