Opinion ID: 1510712
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Plaintiff's Motion For A Directed Verdict

Text: Plaintiff claims that the trial court erred in failing to direct a verdict on the issue of liability for the plaintiff at the close of all the evidence. In Coleman v. Jackson County, 349 Mo. 255, 160 S.W.2d 691 (Mo.1942), this Court set out an all-inclusive rule specifying the special circumstances under which a verdict will be directed in favor of the party having the burden of proof. It is a generally accepted rule in this state that a verdict may not be directed in favor of the proponent, that is the party upon whom the law casts the final burden of proof.... There is, however, a well-recognized exception to the rule. If the opponent, that is that party not having the burden of proof, admits either in his pleadings or by counsel in open court or in his individual testimony on the trial the truth of the basic facts upon which the claim of the proponent rests, a verdict may be directed against him, and if the proof is altogether of a documentary nature and the authenticity and correctness of the documents are unquestioned, and if such proof establishes beyond all doubt the truth of facts which as a matter of law entitled the proponent to the relief sought, and such proof is unimpeached and uncontradicted, the proponent will be entitled to a peremptory instruction. This is upon the theory that there is no question of fact left in the case and that upon the questions of law involved the jury has no right to pass. [Citations omitted.] Id. 160 S.W.2d at 693. In the fifty years since Coleman , Missouri courts have often quoted and applied this rule. See, e.g., Staten v. Estate of Rose, 435 S.W.2d 679, 681 (Mo.1969); Medlock v. Farmers State Bank of Texas Co., 696 S.W.2d 873, 881 (Mo.App.1985); Norfolk & W. Ry. v. Riss Intern. Corp., 560 S.W.2d 332, 334-35 (Mo. App.1977). In applying the Coleman rule, it is important to note that if the directed verdict is to be based upon oral testimony, it must be based upon the testimony of the party who has the benefit of the burden of proof (usually the defendant) and not upon the testimony of the defendant's other witnesses. This reflects the fact that in modern litigation a party is bound by the party's own testimony, Zabol v. Lasky, 555 S.W.2d 299, 304 (Mo. banc 1977), but not by the testimony of the party's witnesses. Young v. Kansas City S. Ry. Co., 374 S.W.2d 150, 153 (Mo.1964); In re Estate of Danforth, 705 S.W.2d 609, 610-11 (Mo. App.1986). Except for the part of the Coleman rule concerning undisputed documentary proof, a directed verdict is not given in favor of the party having the burden of proof no matter how overwhelming that party's evidence may be or how minuscule the other party's evidence may be; a directed verdict in favor of the party having the burden of proof (usually the plaintiff) is never based upon the plaintiff's evidence. This is in recognition of the fact that the defendant, who has the benefit of the burden of proof, is entitled to try the case with no evidence at all and to rely solely upon the jury disbelieving the plaintiff's evidence. This strategy may result in a loss for the defendant, but it will not be on a directed verdict; the defendant is entitled to have the case go to the jury. In his brief, plaintiff quotes the rule for directing the verdict in favor of the plaintiff from Rogers v. Thompson, 364 Mo. 605, 265 S.W.2d 282, 287 (Mo. banc 1954), which states: This general rule is not applicable in unusual situations where defendant in his pleadings or by his counsel in open court admits plaintiff's claim, or by his evidence also establishes plaintiff's claim ( Coleman v. Jackson County, 349 Mo. 255, 160 S.W.2d 691, 693[2], citing authorities;.... (Emphasis added.) The reference to by his evidence suggests that a directed verdict for the plaintiff could be based upon the testimony of the defendant's witnesses as opposed to the defendant's own testimony. However, that statement in Rogers cites Coleman . Rogers , a FELA case, differs from Coleman and the present case because in Rogers the directed verdict in favor of the plaintiff was based upon the testimony of the defendant's employees. In the case of an individual defendant, a directed verdict based upon oral testimony must be based upon the testimony of the defendant and not upon other witnesses called by the defendant. In the present case, Dr. Pelican, the defendant, testified that he did not give the warning, but he did not admit that failure to give such warning was negligence. The plaintiff's argument for a directed verdict on this issue is based upon the fact that his experts and defendant's original expert all testified that the failure to warn constituted negligence. However, this does not meet the requirement of Coleman for a directed verdict for the plaintiff on this issue. More importantly, there were substantial issues of causation that were before the jury on all theories. The medical causation issue of whether the Flagyl caused the persistent peripheral neuropathy was for the jury, as was the warning/causation issue of whether plaintiff would have refrained from taking Flagyl had he been warned. Even if the testimony of Plaintiff Brandt that he would not have taken Flagyl if warned is the only evidence on that issue, this does not meet the Coleman requirement for a directed verdict for plaintiff. Defendant is entitled to try this issue on the theory that the jury may disbelieve Mr. Brandt. Finally, plaintiff's theory of failure to warn plaintiff to stop taking Flagyl and contact his physician immediately if any neurological symptoms appear and the failure to follow the patient theory of liability both involved medical issues of causation for the jury as to whether the persistent peripheral neuropathy would have been avoided if plaintiff had stopped taking Flagyl when the symptoms first appeared. Plaintiff is not entitled to a directed verdict on liability; the trial court did not err in overruling plaintiff's motion and submitting the case to the jury.