Why Defendants In Punitive Damages Cases Have A Due Process Right To Bifurcation

There are substantial tactical questions whether or when it is in the defendant's interest to seek bifurcation of the amount of punitive damages from other trial issues and whether the defendant should in some circumstances seek bifurcation of all punitive damages issues from compensatory damages issues or trifurcation so that punitive liability and punitive amount are each tried in separate second and third phases, respectively (if necessary).

Those are subjects for another post.  This post concerns the defendant's right to have a separate proceeding to determine punitive amount, which is the most common form of bifurcation.

As part of tort-reform statutes, a number of states have required courts to bifurcate punitive damages trials upon a defendant's request, and both the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and state analogues afford courts discretion to bifurcate.  But what is a defendant to do when it is in a forum that does not require bifurcation and before a