Opinion ID: 1134243
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the jury verdict in favor of the appellees was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and said verdict was arbitrary, capricious, outrageous and shocking to the conscience, and the result of bias and prejudice.

Text: During voir dire of the jury, the attorney for appellees admitted negligence on the part of Sandra Holman. After the parties rested, the lower court granted a peremptory instruction in favor of appellees, Mr. and Mrs. W. Henry Holman, Jr., and granted a peremptory instruction on liability against Sandra Holman and in favor of the appellant. The peremptory instruction appears in the following language: The Court instructs the jury that Sandra Hyde Holman was negligent as a matter of law and the remaining issue for you to determine is the amount of damages, if any, sustained by Mrs. Rosalie Rotwein as a result of this accident. The above instruction did not appear in the record along with the other instructions, and was brought before this Court on a diminution of the record. Appellant argues that there is absolutely no way of knowing whether or not [it] reached the jury. However, the copy of the instruction is certified by the circuit clerk as true and correct. Certification imports absolute authority, and the certified record is the sole evidence of the proceedings below. In Brown v. Sutton, 158 Miss. 78, 121 So. 835 (1929), the Court said: So long as it is a true transcript of what the record in the hands of the clerk actually shows, it cannot be impeached in the appellate court; and it cannot be, by us, varied or altered or amended ... nor by statements in the briefs of counsel... . 158 Miss. at 84-85, 121 So. at 837. We are of the opinion that there is no merit in such argument of appellant, and we now proceed to a discussion of injuries and damages alleged by the appellant and to determine whether or not the jury verdict for appellee, Sandra Holman, is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. During the evening after the accident, appellant complained of a loud roaring sound in her head. This sound persisted, and approximately three weeks after the accident, on August 23, 1984, appellant consulted her physician of sixteen (16) years, Dr. James Gordon, who performed a hearing test on appellant and discovered that she had a slight hearing loss in the high frequency range. He diagnosed the roaring sound as tinnitus [1] and prescribed several medications. On November 1, 1984, appellant was examined by Dr. Allan Freeland, an orthopedic surgeon. He diagnosed mild degenerative arthritis which may have been aggravated by the injury in the August 3 accident. He referred appellant to Dr. Windsor Morrison for treatment of the tinnitus. On January 30, 1985, appellant went to New Orleans to be examined by two doctors with special expertise in the area of tinnitus. Dr. Harold Cox of the Ochsner Clinic diagnosed tinnitus in appellant and recommended that she cease taking certain medications. He told appellant's husband, Otherwise, I have no idea why she is suffering from tinnitus. Harold Tabb of the Tulane Medical Center diagnosed allergic rhinitis, tinnitus, and slight hearing loss, and recommended allergy testing, a CT scan and certain lab tests. On February 7, 1985, appellant consulted Dr. William Nicholas, a general practitioner, who diagnosed her condition as vertigo/dizziness. That same day, appellant saw Dr. Herbert Langford, an internist, who prescribed calcium blockers for the tinnitus. Appellant was referred to those doctors by Dr. Freeland. Appellant next consulted Dr. Dennis Roberts, a dentist, on May 19, 1985. He ground down appellant's teeth in order to improve her bite, but the tinnitus remained unabated. Finally, appellant consulted Dr. William Johnson, a psychologist, on May 21, 1985, to determine whether biofeedback could be used to help appellant cope with the roaring sound caused by the tinnitus. However, the tinnitus symptoms became worse while biofeedback was being used. Dr. Johnson administered several psychological tests, and he concluded that appellant's tinnitus symptoms were real. Appellant testified as to her version of the accident, the resulting tinnitus, the various forms of medical relief sought, and adverse affects on her lifestyle and quality of living. Appellant's husband testified that appellant is just not the same sweet personality that she was before the accident and attributed the change to her medical problems. Drs. Gordon, Freeland, Johnson, Tabb and Cox testified for appellant and described her medical treatment as set forth above. Appellant introduced medical bills totalling $3,223.00. [2] The cross-examination of appellant and of her physicians Drs. Gordon and Freeland indicated that appellant had several preexisting conditions. She had been treated regularly by Dr. Gordon for allergies and a thyroid condition. In 1980, appellant had sustained a compression fracture of the vertebra at Level T-6. Appellant testified that she couldn't bear the pain and her husband took her to the hospital for X-rays which revealed the fracture. Appellant's husband did not recall this. Other maladies suffered by appellant prior to the accident included sciatica pains, Achilles tendon pain, osteopenia, osteoporosis, arthritis, and a twisted foot. In April, 1984, three months before the accident, appellant got an ear irritation from swimming and developed a noise in her ear. In the month immediately preceding the accident, appellant complained to Dr. Gordon of ringing in the ears, and the diagnosis was tinnitus. Appellant principally relies upon Howard Bros. of Phenix City, Inc. v. Penley, 492 So.2d 965 (Miss. 1986), as authority supporting the first assigned error. In Howard Bros., Penley, who was a department store customer, was held hostage by a mentally-disturbed customer who had obtained a loaded pistol from a sales clerk. The customer fired the pistol near Penley's ear, and, as a result, Penley sustained permanent tinnitus. Penley had no previous tinnitus, and it was obvious that the tinnitus was caused by the gunshot. Howard Bros. is distinguished from the case at bar where there is preexisting tinnitus and the evidence is substantial that appellant's tinnitus was not caused or aggravated by the collision. Credibility of witnesses is for the jury. Burnham v. Tabb, 508 So.2d 1072 (Miss. 1987). In Jackson v. Griffin, 390 So.2d 287 (Miss. 1980), the Court said: Conflicts in the evidence are to be resolved by the jury, and before a reviewing court can interfere with the verdict, testimony must so strongly preponderate that the court can safely say it was overwhelmingly in favor of the appellant. 390 So.2d at 289. The issue of damages was thoroughly presented to the jury in the court's instructions. After a careful review of the evidence, we are unable to say that the jury did not have substantial evidence to support its verdict for the appellees. The jury obviously determined that appellant's tinnitus and other ills were not the result of the accident, and, in our opinion, the jury's verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Therefore, assigned Error I is rejected.