District court decisions don't mean much in the grand scheme of things. Appellate decisions, though, are used to guide future legislation and case law. The 2006 law barring illegals from receiving punitive damages may be unsupported by jurisprudence (thus far). Therefore, it's possible that the judge wanted the "pay the illegals" issue to be appealed, and gave the jury "enough rope".
I hope that is where this is going. I’m getting tired of the courts making criminals rich. It’s making me start to rethink my current occupation and just become a criminal.