Opinion ID: 2510266
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Did the District Judge Abuse his Discretion in Granting a New Trial?

Text: The district judge granted the new trial on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to justify the verdict. I.R.C.P. Rule 59(a)(6). A trial judge may grant a new trial on that ground if, after making his or her own assessment of the credibility of the witnesses and weighing the evidence, the judge determines that the verdict is not in accord with the clear weight of the evidence. Karlson v. Harris, 140 Idaho 561, 97 P.3d 428 (2004). The judge is not required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury's determination, but may grant a new trial even if there is substantial evidence supporting the verdict. Id. The judge must also conclude that a different result would follow a retrial. Heitz v. Carroll, 117 Idaho 373, 788 P.2d 188 (1990). When reviewing a trial judge's grant of a new trial on appeal, this Court applies the abuse of discretion standard. Karlson v. Harris, 140 Idaho 561, 97 P.3d 428 (2004). A trial judge has wide discretion to grant or deny a request for a new trial, and we will not overturn the judge's decision absent a showing of a manifest abuse of discretion. Id. Although we will review the evidence, we primarily focus upon the process used by the trial judge in reaching his or her decision, not upon the result of that decision. Id. The trial judge is in a far better position than we to weigh the demeanor, credibility and testimony of witnesses and the persuasiveness of all the evidence. Id. Therefore, we do not weigh the evidence. Our inquiry is: (1) whether the trial judge correctly perceived the issue as one of discretion; (2) whether the trial judge acted within the outer boundaries of his or her discretion and consistently with the legal standards applicable to the specific available choices; and (3) whether the trial judge reached his or her decision by an exercise of reason. Id. In this case, the trial judge correctly perceived that the decision to grant or deny the motion for a new trial was one of discretion. His decision was based primarily upon his assessment of the credibility of the witnesses regarding three issues. One issue regarding liability was the speed at which the Plaintiff was driving at the time of the collision. There were two cars following the Plaintiff's vehicle. The car immediately behind his was being driven by Nicole Victor and the other was being driven by Laura Caudill, the Plaintiff's girlfriend. They both testified that the Plaintiff's car was traveling at the speed limit of 45 mph. The Defendants presented evidence from an accident reconstructionist who expressed his opinion that the Plaintiff's car was traveling at 71 mph at the time of the collision. The Plaintiff presented opinion testimony from two experts who disagreed with the Defendants' expert regarding the speed of the Plaintiff's vehicle. They put the speed of the Geo at about 45 mph. Another issue was how far the Plaintiff was from the intersection when Mr. Phibbs turned onto 3600 North Road. Mr. Anderson was sitting in the middle of the van's middle seat. Both he and Mr. Phibbs testified that prior to pulling out from the stop sign, they saw a vehicle coming from the west that was approximately one-fourth of a mile away. Mrs. Anderson, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the van, testified that when the van stopped at the stop sign, she looked both ways and did not see any vehicle coming from the west. The Plaintiff testified that the van pulled out in front of him and he tried to pass it to avoid hitting it. Nicole Victor, who was driving immediately behind the Plaintiff, testified that she had to brake to avoid colliding with the van. This issue is related to the speed of the Plaintiff's vehicle because it would have to have been traveling at about 70 mph to cover the quarter-mile distance during the period of time that Mr. Phibbs was negotiating his turn. The third issue was whether Mr. Phibbs had signaled his turn into the circular driveway. Mr. Phibbs and Mr. Anderson both testified that Mr. Phibbs had turned on his left blinker before turning onto 3600 North Road. The dispute was whether the blinker remained on throughout his turn, including when he crossed the centerline to enter the Anderson's driveway. Mr. Phibbs and the Andersons testified that Mr. Phibbs made one continuous turn, in which circumstance the van's blinker would have remained on throughout the turn. The Plaintiff offered evidence of their prior statements that indicated Mr. Phibbs made two turns instead of one continuous turn. The Plaintiff testified that the van's turn signal was not on when he swerved to avoid the van. The district judge explained his assessment of the testimony and concluded that the witnesses whose testimony favored the Plaintiff were more credible than those favoring the Defendants. The district judge also pointed to other factors, such as that Mr. Phibbs did not look in his rearview mirror prior to crossing the centerline to turn into the Andersons' driveway. After thoroughly explaining his evaluation of the credibility of the witnesses, the district judge concluded that the testimony favoring the Plaintiff was more credible than that favoring the Defendants and that a different result would likely occur in a new trial. The Defendants quibble with the judge's evaluation of the credibility of the witnesses, arguing that they impeached some of the witnesses the judge found credible. The testimony of Mr. Phibbs and the Andersons was also impeached on key points, however. The Defendants have failed to show that the district judge manifestly abused his discretion in granting a new trial. We affirm that decision. The Defendants also challenge various rulings made by the district judge. Because those same issues may arise on retrial, we will address them.