Opinion ID: 2209181
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Claim of excessive damages.

Text: Appellant assigns error by a two pronged attack upon the verdict as excessive and contends the trial court erred when it denied his application for a new trial. Under 59a(5) RCP he argues the damages are excessive and appear to have been given under the influence of passion and prejudice. Under 59a(6) RCP he urges the evidence is not sufficient to justify the verdict. The two grounds complement each other and urging one does not operate to exclude the other. It is true if a verdict is found excessive and determined to have been given under the influence of passion and prejudice, it would follow that the evidence does not sustain it. However, a determination that a verdict was not rendered under the influence of passion and prejudice does not foreclose a party from asserting that it is not supported by the evidence. Schoenrock v. City of Sisseton, 78 S.D. 419, 103 N.W.2d 649; Hotovec v. Howe, 79 S.D. 337, 111 N.W.2d 748. The jury fixed damages at $30,000. Doctor, hospital and ambulance bills totaled $11,259.10 leaving $18,740.90 for pain and suffering. Mrs. Ebright lived for 256 days after the accident. On March 10, 1966, Dr. McVay, one of her doctors, wrote plaintiff's counsel that her current status is one of a completely unconscious woman, and one who would only respond to painful stimuli. The record reveals that this condition continued until her death and appears to have gradually progressed to that status from four to six weeks before the doctor so advised counsel. Appellant's argument on excessive damages is predicated primarily on his contention that Mrs. Ebright was at all times after the accident either unconscious or semi-conscious and consequently she could experience little or no pain and an award in the amount indicated is not justified by the evidence. In effect this is a subsection 6 attack and rules out passion and prejudice. Nevertheless, an examination of the record discloses nothing which we feel would justify us in holding the verdict was given under the influence of passion and prejudice. The amount is not so unreasonable as would raise a presumption that it was the result of passion and prejudice. Gamble v. Keyes, 39 S.D. 592, 166 N.W. 134; Stene v. Hillgren, 77 S.D. 165, 88 N.W.2d 109. For us to so presume The damages    must be so excessive as to strike mankind, at first blush, as being, beyond all measure, unreasonable and outrageous, and such as manifestly show the jury to have been actuated by passion, partiality, prejudice or corruption. Schuler v. City of Mobridge, 44 S.D. 488, 184 N.W. 281; Weidner v. Lineback, S.D., 140 N.W.2d 597. This is not such a verdict. Mrs. Ebright sustained severe injuries to the left side of her forehead, eye and face. The left eye was torn from its orbit. Facial and left cheek bones were fractured and the left side of her skull was laid open revealing portions of the frontal lobes of her brain. Emergency surgery was performed on the night of the accident by Dr. McVay and follow up surgery by Dr. Brown at Sioux City a few days later. Dr. McVay did further surgery on January 17th. Spinal taps were also made to relieve pressure on the brain. On two occasions through movements of limbs or body the patient reopened wounds on her head and face. She was made to wear gloves and restraints on her hands and a Posey Belt. [8] A ventriculogram was performed by Dr. Brown on February 23rd and disclosed the brain was atrophying or degenerating and chances of subsequent improvement were virtually nil. We have already alluded to the nurses' notes showing Mrs. Ebright's condition during the period after the accident to February 16th. [9] They graphically portray the condition of this woman during that time. These notes reveal instances of pain and suffering and occurrences from which the jury could infer she experienced pain and suffering despite use of sedatives. Other evidence was also offered which would bear on her capacity to experience pain and suffering. Dr. McVay testified when she was in the emergency room immediately after the accident: she was somewhat responsive but was not quite clear as to what happened. But she pointed to her face and said it hurts. She at one time was sitting up when she came into the emergency room. During the period following December 22, 1965 and into January 1966, Dr. McVay testified he saw her daily and he would see her sitting in a chair or on the edge of the bed and she would walk in the halls with a nurse assisting. He was asked: Q. Did she respond to any questions    at this time? A. Yes, to simple questions, as to whether she hurt, or how she felt, or if she were hungry. I wouldn't say that any lengthy conversation was possible. The doctor also testified that during this time she would sometimes feed herself with a nurse in attendance. On cross-examination as to her consciousness during the period from December 22nd to January 17th, he said the nurses' notes would chronologically and accurately show her condition and    there were periods that I have mentioned, when she would    look around the room and I believe recognize her family and myself. She certainly was not unconscious, and at periods not even semi-comatose, but the level of sensorium I would hesitate to estimate. Dr. Brown, the Sioux City physician, whose deposition was taken before Mrs. Ebright's death [10] alternately described her as semi-conscious [11] and unconscious. [12] The nurses' notes during her first hospitalization at Sioux City are contra. [13] The husband testified Mrs. Ebright was conscious while waiting for the ambulance and said Touch me. Don't leave me; she walked to the ambulance. During December and January, he talked to his wife and she would answer. He testified: Q. Did she ever complain to you about injuries or pain? A. Yes. If I talked to her for just a few minutes she would say it hurts too much. A daughter and son testified as to their observations and conversations with their mother during hospital visits in December and January. They testified to her watching television, concerning herself about school matters, and to her complaints about food and restrictions on use of her hands because of the gloves. They saw her sitting up in bed. We believe the evidence is sufficient to show that Mrs. Ebright was conscious a substantial portion of the time from December 7, 1965 to at least the middle of January 1966 and possibly longer and capable of experiencing pain and suffering. By its verdict the jury so determined and the plaintiff was entitled to be compensated therefor. In Flory v. New York Central Railroad Co., 170 Ohio St. 185, 163 N.E.2d 902, a plaintiff's decedent died in a hospital to which he was removed ten hours and forty minutes after the accident, and the evidence showed during a part of this time he was unconscious or semi-conscious. A jury awarded $7,500.00 for pain and suffering and the verdict was approved in the trial court, intermediate appellate court [14] and the Supreme Court. In affirming the latter court wrote in language we approve: Of all the items of compensatory damages which it may become the duty of a court or jury to assess, that which will compensate for human pain and suffering is perhaps the most difficult to determine. Such determination is susceptible of no mathematical or rule of thumb computation, and no substitute for simple human evaluation has been authoritatively suggested. In this case we cannot say as a matter of law that the amount determined by the jury to be reasonable compensation for the pain and suffering which it found to have been suffered is unreasonable. Although the verdict is liberal even under present money value standards, we cannot say as a matter of law that the evidence is insufficient to justify the verdict. Hotovec v. Howe, supra. There are no accurate means of monetarily evaluating the pain and suffering which Mrs. Ebright endured and the amount of damages to be awarded must largely be left to the good judgment of the jury. Ross v. Foss, 77 S.D. 358, 92 N.W.2d 147; Jorgenson v. Dronebarger, S.D., 143 N.W.2d 869.