Opinion ID: 1382827
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: contentions of plaintiffs regarding the propriety of granting hartford's motion for new trial.

Text: Plaintiffs contend that the specifications given by the trial court in support of its order granting a new trial were insufficient. Code of Civil Procedure section 657 provides: When a new trial is granted, on all or part of the issues, the court shall specify the ground or grounds upon which it is granted and the court's reason or reasons for granting the new trial upon each ground stated. Here the trial judge filed a five-page memorandum setting forth his reasons for the new trial. Specifically he dealt with Dr. Lovelace's state of mind and raised substantial questions concerning the testimony of the experts relating thereto, particularly that of Dr. Anselen compared with that of Dr. DiNolfo, stating that he reject[ed] the opinions of Dr. Anselen, which would exonerate Dr. Lovelace from the ability to know and recognize the nature of his act and to control his conduct, as being absurd. Aside from these ill-founded opinions, there is no support for the jury's finding. I am satisfied that if the action had been between two individuals, rather than a widow and fatherless child against an insurance company, a different result would have been reached by the jury. (11) Specifications for new trial are sufficient if they make a record sufficiently precise to permit meaningful review. ( Scala v. Jerry Witt & Sons, Inc. (1970) 3 Cal.3d 359, 363 [90 Cal. Rptr. 592, 475 P.2d 864].) Specifications are insufficient if simply couched in the form of conclusions or statement of ultimate fact. ( Miller v. Los Angeles County Flood Control Dist. (1973) 8 Cal.3d 689, 698 [106 Cal. Rptr. 1, 505 P.2d 193].) Here plaintiffs' attack is basically one of factual disagreement with the court's reasons for disbelieving evidence of Dr. Lovelace's lack of willfulness. Such a factual disagreement is not adequate to show that the specifications for new trial were insufficient. The record reflects that detailed reasons were given for the trial court's decision and that the specifications reflected deliberation on the part of the trial judge such as to give this court a meaningful picture of what prompted the new trial order. The statutory purposes have thus been served. (Cf. Neal v. Farmers Ins. Exchange (1978) 21 Cal.3d 910, 931-933 [148 Cal. Rptr. 389, 582 P.2d 980].) (12) It is next contended that a trial court's power to grant a new trial on the ground of insufficiency of the evidence (Code Civ. Proc., § 657, subd. 6) deprives plaintiffs of their right to jury trial guaranteed by article I, section 16 of the California Constitution. This attack, however, comes too late in the jurisprudential day. It has long been held that the right to jury trial is not violated by the power in question. ( Ingraham v. Weidler (1903) 139 Cal. 588 [73 P. 415]; Estate of Bainbridge (1915) 169 Cal. 166 [146 P. 427].) More recently we again passed upon this point in Dorsey v. Barba (1952) 38 Cal.2d 350, 358 [240 P.2d 604]. We also find wanting plaintiffs' claim that Code of Civil Procedure section 657 violates due process (Cal. Const., art. I, § 7; U.S. Const., Amend. XIV, § 1). It is but another statement of their jury trial argument discussed above, and for that reason we discuss it no further. Finally, plaintiffs argue that in any event the willfulness of Dr. Lovelace was immaterial and irrelevant and that judgment should have been entered in plaintiffs' favor because (1) Hartford breached its duty to defend Dr. Lovelace in the wrongful death action, and (2) Dr. Lovelace's willfulness, if any, is inapplicable to innocent third parties. (13) Even assuming that the failure to defend Dr. Lovelace was unjustified and that issues relating to coverage could be litigated in the action against Dr. Lovelace, plaintiffs cannot prevail in this contention. We held in Murphy v. Allstate Ins. Co., supra, 17 Cal.3d 937, 943-944, that in the absence of an assignment a third party claimant cannot bring an action upon a duty owed to the insured by the insurer. Plaintiffs, standing in place of the injured party, can claim no duty owing to Dr. Lovelace to defend, no assignment of Dr. Lovelace's right being claimed. (14) Plaintiffs' contention that innocent victims of intentional torts should be able to recover from an insurer without regard to the willfulness of the insured clearly runs contrary to the policy expressed in Insurance Code section 533, the subject of discussion at the start of this opinion. Nuffer v. Insurance Co. of North America, supra, 236 Cal. App.2d 349 is cited by plaintiffs to demonstrate that an innocent third party may recover for the action of the insured's agent. Here, however, we are not concerned with an action of Dr. Lovelace's agent, but with Dr. Lovelace's own act. Hartford may not be held liable to plaintiffs for any willful act of Dr. Lovelace.