Lehto

In this insurance bad faith suit, defendant Allstate Insurance Company appeals the judgment entered following a jury’s verdict in favor of plaintiff Gary Lehto. Prior to the instant action, Allstate’s insureds, Israel and Raul Carbajal, entered into a stipulated judgment in the amount of $2.6 million in favor of plaintiff, in exchange for a covenant not to execute and an assignment of the Carbajals’ bad faith claims against Allstate. The jury awarded plaintiff $2.5 million in compensatory damages based on the Carbajals’ bad faith claims, and $1 million in compensatory damages for plaintiff’s bad faith action based on breach of Insurance Code section 790.03, subdivision (h). The trial court granted Allstate a nonsuit with respect to plaintiff’s claims for punitive damages, a holding which plaintiff challenges on appeal. Plaintiff also appeals the trial court’s post-judgment order denying his request that Allstate pay interest on the stipulated judgment from the date of its entry. Finally, both parties appeal various evidentiary and instructional rulings of the trial court.

Facts

In May 1980, Raul Carbajal, the teenage son of Allstate’s insured, Israel Carbajal, was…