Title: Barajas v. Sonders
Citation: 193 Kan. 273, 392 P.2d 849
Docket Number: 43,717
State: Kansas
Issuer: Kansas Supreme Court
Date: June 6, 1964

193 Kan. 273 (1964)
392 P.2d 849
MARIA BARAJAS, Appellant,
v.
JERRY H. SONDERS, UNION CABS, INC., Appellees.
No. 43,717

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed June 6, 1964.
Gene E. Schroer, of Topeka, argued the cause and Hal E. Des Jardins, of Topeka, was with him on the briefs for the appellant.
Harold E. Doherty, of Topeka, argued the cause, and Ernest J. Rice and James E. Benfer, both of Topeka, were with him on the briefs for the appellees.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
HATCHER, C.:
This is an appeal from a judgment of the district court granting a new trial based on misconduct of the jury.
The appeal stems from an action for the recovery of damages resulting from an automobile collision. The plaintiff was injured while a passenger in the taxi cab owned by the Union Cabs, Inc., which was being driven by the defendant, Jerry H. Sonders. The case was tried to a jury which returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $20,000. The defendants filed a motion for new trial alleging the statutory grounds. At the hearing of the motion for a new trial the defendants stressed misconduct of the jury as one of the chief grounds therefore. An affidavit of one of the jurors and the testimony of the foreman of the jury was presented in support of some of the grounds alleged.
Although the defendants at the hearing on the motion for a new trial introduced evidence as to several allegations of misconduct on *274 the part of the jury, they now, with admirable candor concede that the only substantial ground covered by their evidence was the use of a slide rule by one of the jurors, who was an engineer, in making calculations while they were deliberating. The other alleged grounds of misconduct was disclosed by the record of the trial proceedings. At the hearing on the motion for a new trial, March 29, 1963, the defendants presented an affidavit of Robert A. Moore, one of the jurors, which insofar as now pertinent to the issues stated:
Following the introduction of the affidavit, the following colloquy took place between counsel:
The testimony of Mr. David Bishop, the foreman of the jury, was then introduced. The witness's testimony was to the same effect as the statements in the affidavit on the use of the slide rule.
At the request of plaintiff the hearing was continued to May 10, 1963, at which time the plaintiff introduced a second affidavit of the juror, Robert A. Moore, which was filed with the court on April 4, 1963. It reads in part:
The record further disclosed that in addition to rendering a general verdict the jury did, without any suggestion from the trial court, break down the items of damages and include an item not supported by evidence. The general verdict reads:
"$1,500.00 for medical expenses already incurred.
"$1,000.00 for additional future medical expenses.
"$10,000.00 for permanent injury.
"$7,500.00 for the pain she still suffers."
It is stated in the appellees' counter abstract that the record disclosed no evidence of necessary future medical expense.
It was argued on the motion for new trial that the jury allowed incurred medical expenses in the sum of $1,500.00 while the evidence established but $1,317.91. It was also argued that the jury did not give proper consideration to the case in that they hurried their deliberations in order to be free on the Saturday they were deliberating. It was contended that this was disclosed by the allowance of an item of damages which was not supported by the evidence, and by the amount of the verdict in general.
At the close of the hearing on the motion for a new trial, the trial court concluded:
Judgment was entered accordingly and the plaintiff has appealed.
The appellant contends that where the trial court grants a new trial upon specific legal grounds this court will examine the grounds upon which the new trial was granted and determine whether it was legally sufficient. This is the rule where legal grounds are being considered and this court is in as good a position as the trial court to determine the question. (Ferguson v. Kansas City Public Service Co., 159 Kan. 520, 156 P.2d 869; Bernsden v. Johnson, 174 Kan. 230, 255 P.2d 1033.) However, the issues in this case do not fall within the rule.
The appellant would attempt to take each charge of misconduct separately and argue that standing alone there was no single charge of misconduct which would justify the granting a new trial.
We do not propose to so approach the question. We are concerned with whether or not the general and over all conduct of the jury denied the appellees a fair trial. The trial court appears to have approached the question on this basis. It concluded that *276 the evidence and affidavits introduced by both parties, and the oral and written arguments of counsel, which covered the entire trial proceedings, showed misconduct on the part of the jury which resulted in prejudice to the appellees.
The trial court's conclusion amounted to a finding that it was dissatisfied with the verdict because of the general misconduct of the jury.
Whether the misconduct of a jury is prejudicial to a party to an action is a question of fact to be determined in the light of all the circumstances of the trial. In Thomas, Administrator v. Kansas Power &amp; Light Co., 185 Kan. 6, 340 P.2d 379, the established rules relating to granting new trials based on misconduct of the jury are stated on page 13 of the opinion where it is said:
It might also be suggested that a record of the trial proceedings has not been presented for review. The appellant has presented only the proceedings on the motion for a new trial. This court is in no position to consider all of the circumstances of trial proceedings, particularly the itemized findings of damages, which might throw light on the question as to whether the alleged misconduct of the jury resulted in prejudice to the appellees.
*277 This court has stated in Bishop v. Huffman, 175 Kan. 270, 274, 262 P.2d 948:
The same rule must be applied where the trial court grants a new trial based on misconduct of the jury. This is particularly true where numerous grounds of misconduct are presented which require factual determinations.
This court cannot say, after considering all of the circumstances of the case, that there was apparent abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in granting a new trial.
The appellant complains of the use of the affidavit of the juror Moore because it was not filed and served in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 1949, 60-2835. The appellant made no such objection at the time the affidavit was introduced as evidence on the hearing of the motion for a new trial. The objection cannot be raised for the first time on appeal. (Boucher v. Roberts, 187 Kan. 675, 359 P.2d 830; Thornton v. Bench, 188 Kan. 89, 360 P.2d 1065; Folkerts v. Kansas Power &amp; Light Co., 190 Kan. 159, 372 P.2d 997.)
Other alleged errors in connection with procedures at the hearing on the motion for new trial have been considered and found to be without merit.
A careful examination of the record discloses nothing that would justify a reversal of the trial court's judgment granting a new trial.
The judgment is affirmed.
APPROVED BY THE COURT.