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Thursday afternoon, a jury awarded the Gibson family $33 million in punitive damages in addition to the $11 million in compensatory damages they were awarded last week in the defamation suit against Oberlin College. That punitive award will be reduced, under state law, to $22 million (2x compensatory). So the total will be $33 million. The jury also awarded attorneys fees which have yet to be determined by the judge. The judgment is a massive blow to Oberlin College who was accused of defaming the bakery and its owners over a shoplifting incident in 2016.

The jury just rendered its verdict on punitive damages in the Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College case. Daniel McGraw, our reporter in the courtroom, reports that in addition to the $11.2 million compensatory damages awarded last Friday, the jury awarded a total of $33 million in punitive damages, which will probably be reduced by the court to $22 million because of the state law cap at twice compensatory (it's not an absolute cap, but probably will apply here). That brings the total damages to $33 million. We will have the breakdown soon. The jury also awarded attorney's fees, to be determined by the judge.

The witness testimony completed today in the punitive damages hearing, which follows the $11.2 million compensatory verdict last Friday in the lawsuit Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College. The jury could award up to double damages, meaning $22.4 million on top of the $11.2 million, bringing the potential total to $33.6 million, plus a recommendation that the judge award attorney's fees. I will have a complete update later, but here is the essence of Oberlin College's defense today:

With the compensatory damages verdict of $11.2 million having been rendered last Friday, the parties in Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College are now into the punitive damages phase. But in a civil trial that has gone on much longer expected, the jury never saw the courtroom today as the judge had to rule on about a half-dozen motions filed by Oberlin College.

Update

[3:20 p.m.] The Court has rejected plaintiffs' request to use the mass email sent by Oberlin College's Vice President and General Counsel, Donica Thomas Varner, to the Oberlin community criticizing the jury. The plaintiffs subpoenaed her to testify, and the defense filed a motion to quash the subpoena. The Judge ruled: "this was a letter sent by the Oberlin general counsel after the verdict. We are talking about the actions of the defendants that demonstrated malice. What we will use is only what was litigated in court."

As you know, last Friday the jury rendered a verdict of $11.2 million against Oberlin College and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo for compensatory damages. Allyn W. Gibson was awarded $3 million, David Gibson $5.8 million, Gibson Bros. $2,274,500. Legal Insurrection readers heard it here first. Our Verdict post has been shared tens of thousands of times on social media.