David Julian Liston, III, and Dena Liston v. Claudia Liliana Salvi
In one of the first district court applications of the Florida Supreme Court's June 2026 decision in Perlmutter v. Federal Insurance Co., the Fourth District affirmed leave to plead punitive damages against one defendant and reversed as to the other. The court reaffirmed that at the pleading stage the trial court considers only the claimant's proffered evidence, views it in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and does not weigh evidence or apply the clear and convincing standard. Applying section 768.72(2)'s requirement that each defendant be 'personally guilty' of intentional misconduct or gross negligence, the court held that spitting in the plaintiff's face twice did not meet either statutory definition.
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