That may happen, But keep in mind that a jury decides matters related to facts in a case; it doesn’t decide matters of law. If the plaintiffs don’t produce evidence to support a $5 million claim, then they’re not going to get $5 million even if a jury thinks they should get $500 million.
I’m talking civil case, not criminal case. I was on the jury in two one month long civil cases. We got to decide if the plaintiff would prevail, based on the facts. Had the plaintiff prevailed (they didn’t) we would have then decided on a settlement amount.
And here is the fun part. A jury can award the plaintiff $50 in damages and $50,000,000 in punitive damages. That sort of thing happens all the time when the defendant has deep pockets. The whole point is to choose an amount that will sufficiently penalize the defendant so they don’t do it again, rather than give the plaintiff what they deserve.