Opinion ID: 1831078
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Limited Retrial of Issue of Damages

Text: 3. Defendant Bly moved for a new trial as against plaintiff Ernest Swanson only as to the damages other than those attributable to the precipitation or aggravation of Parkinson's disease. In effect, he requested that the jury's answer to interrogatory 9-A assessing damages at $35,000 be set aside; that it be inferred from the jury's answer to interrogatory 9-B that plaintiff's claim for damages attributable to the precipitation or aggravation of Parkinson's disease was rejected; and that this rejection of that claim of damage be made binding upon any jury hereafter asked to assess plaintiff's loss attributable to the accident. After the court granted defendant Bly's motion, plaintiff Swanson moved for a new trial on the issue of damages unaffected by the jury's answer to interrogatory 9-B, which motion was denied. While this court has not previously considered whether a new trial may be limited to less than all damage claims, the Federal courts have answered the question in the affirmative, [6] and our prior cases granting or approving grants of new trials on less than all the liability issues or defenses [7] may provide some precedent for use of the procedure in proper cases. However, it is clear that the procedure is not to be employed if the court is unable to say that the issue to be retried is so distinct and separable from the others that the trial of it alone may be had without injustice. See, Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Bennett (4 Cir.) 251 F.2d 934; cf. Koenigs v. Werner, 263 Minn. 80, 116 N.W.2d 73. We have previously held that partial new trials are not to be employed when the verdict indicates that the jury may have compromised the amount. Hurr v. Johnston, 242 Minn. 329, 65 N.W.2d 193. We cannot say that such did not occur in this case. In finding damages in the amount of $35,000, an amount the trial court found grossly excessive which cannot reasonably be accounted for, except on the theory that it was the result of passion and prejudice, it is not unlikely that the jury did in fact allow damages for the precipitation or aggravation of the Parkinson's disease even though it declined to allocate any specific amount as being due to it. A new trial on the entire damage issue would involve little more time and expense than one limited to the non-Parkinson's disease damages since in the latter type of trial extensive medical testimony would be necessary to properly segregate the damages caused by the accident from those caused by the Parkinson's disease. Under the circumstances, plaintiff Swanson's motion for a new trial on the entire damage issue should have been granted. It is clear that plaintiff Swanson is content with the verdict. Defendant Bly is entitled to a new trial on the issue of damages only if he wants it. But in view of the way in which his post-trial motion was worded, we cannot be sure whether he wants a new trial of the issue without the benefit of the first jury's answer to interrogatory 9-B. Therefore, defendant Bly will be allowed 15 days from the filing of this decision within which to consent to having judgment entered against himself in accordance with the present verdict.