Ky. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 411
Kentucky Revised Statutes

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 411.010 (2026)

Action for assault -- Battery -- Provocation as a defense or in mitigation of

✓ current as of May 2026
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punitive damages. In any civil action for damages inflicted by an assault or by an assault and battery, the defendant may plead as a defense to the claim for punitive damages, and introduce in evidence in mitigation of punitive damages, any matter of provocation that preceded the assault or battery, if the provocation prompted the assault or battery and was of a nature to cause a person of ordinary prudence and judgment to take the action taken by the defendant. Effective: October 1, 1942 History: Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 73a-1.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases, 1946–2001 · leading case: Banks v. Fritsch, 39 S.W.3d 474 (Ky. Ct. App. 2001).
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Banks v. Fritsch, 39 S.W.3d 474 (Ky. Ct. App. 2001). “Banks also argues that KRS 411.010 requires the trial court to instruct the jury on punitive damages in any civil action seeking recovery for assault and battery.”
Keel v. St. Elizabeth Med. Ctr., 842 S.W.2d 860 (Ky. 1992). · cites it 2× “, KRS 411.010 (provocation as a defense to assault and battery), KRS 372.”
Sturgeon v. Baker, 227 S.W.2d 202 (Ky. Ct. App. 1950). “This is a common law action modified by statute, KRS 411.010, formerly Sec. 73a-l, Ky. Stats.”
Herring v. Lunderman, 194 S.W.2d 506 (Ky. Ct. App. 1946). · cites it 2× “Counsel for defendant also offered an instruction to the effect that the law was for the de *274 fendant if the jury believed from the evidence that the conduct of the plaintiff was such as to excuse an ordinary prudent man in making the assault.”
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