Appeals court reduces punitive damages in Ragland case

The Kentucky Court of Appeals has ruled that the amount of money that Shane Ragland must pay to the family of Trent DeGiuro, whom Ragland was convicted of killing, should be reduced.

In a ruling Oct. 22, the court said that the $60 million in punitive damages awarded in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the DiGiuro family in 2008 was excessive. The appeals court remanded the case to Fayette Circuit Court with direction to reduce the punitive damages to $30 million.

DiGiuro, a University of Kentucky football player, was killed in Lexington in 1994. Ragland admitted to fatally shooting DiGiuro at a rental house on Woodland Avenue while DiGiuro was celebrating his 21st birthday.

The $63.3 million award in 2008 included $60 million in punitive damages and $3.3 million in compensatory damages.

Ragland's attorneys had argued from past court rulings that the ratio of punitive damages to compensatory damages was too high, and the appeals court agreed.

Ragland was convicted of murder in 2002, but the Kentucky Supreme Court overturned the verdict in 2006. In a plea deal in 2007, Ragland pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to time served in prison and home incarceration.

This story was originally published October 29, 2010 at 8:59 AM with the headline "Appeals court reduces punitive damages in Ragland case."