Florida Billionaire’s DNA-Stealing Punitive Damages Case Revived

Former Marvel Entertainment executive Ike Perlmutter and his wife can sue one of their millionaire neighbors for punitive damages over allegations that their DNA was stolen by an attorney in a deposition.

The Florida Supreme Court’s landmark Thursday ruling reviving Perlmutter’s claims stamped out a conflict between state appeals courts in which some judges sought to require mini-trials over proof before plaintiffs could amend their complaints to seek huge jury awards. That higher bar conflicts with the text of the law, Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz wrote for the unanimous court.

“The trial court does not act as a fact-finder ...