Opinion ID: 1952771
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Whether the trial court erred in directing a verdict for the defendant after the close of the appellant's case in chief which had withstood motions for directed verdict in the first two trials of this matter?

Text: ¶ 17. Allstate's next argument is that the trial judge erred by directing a verdict for Dorothy McGory at the conclusion of Allstate's case in the third trial. This Court conducts a de novo review of motions for directed verdict... . If the Court finds that the evidence favorable to the non-moving party and the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom present a question for the jury, the motion should not be granted. Pace v. Financial Security Life of Mississippi, 608 So.2d 1135, 1138 (Miss. 1992). These standards apply to each element of a claim. McGory I, 527 So.2d at 635. ¶ 18. Thus, the question presented here is, whether the evidence favorable to Allstate and the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom presented a jury question on the elements of 1) incendiarism, 2) motive, and 3) opportunity. This Court has already considered similar evidence on incendiarism and motive and concluded that the evidence was sufficient to present a jury question. McGory I, 527 So.2d at 636. Indeed, Allstate presented testimony that the fire was intentionally set and that some of the McGorys' debts had been forwarded for collection at the time of the fire. ¶ 19. However, unlike the first trial, there was no evidence in this case to indicate that Dorothy McGory had an opportunity to set the fire or procure its being set. The only evidence in this regard was the testimony of two volunteer firemen, one of whom testified that Dorothy McGory was at the house when he arrived on the scene to fight the fire, and one of whom testified that he saw Dorothy McGory after the fire was extinguished. Furthermore, Allstate's expert testified that a fire could be set by a timing device. However, there was no evidence that such a device was used to burn the McGorys' rental house. There is absolutely no evidence that Dorothy McGory had the opportunity to set the fire or arrange for its being set. Therefore, the trial judge correctly granted Dorothy McGory's motion for a directed verdict, because Allstate failed to present any evidence for the jury to consider on the element of opportunity.