Opinion ID: 511587
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Valley's New Trial Motion

Text: 46 Valley's motion for a new trial was based on the allegation that Authority's witness had given material false testimony at trial. The witness, Walter Huresky, Vice President for Pricing and Regulatory Affairs of Puerto Rico Maritime Management, Inc., testified that the Trucking vehicles participating in joint through routes were marked to indicate that they were part of the Trucking fleet. That testimony was relevant because it showed that Trucking and Authority participated in the routes as separate entities, as required by the terms of Tariff 205. In its new trial motion, Valley proffered photographs from September 1985, indicating that certain motor vehicles at Authority's Jacksonville, Florida, terminal facility were not in fact identified as Trucking vehicles. The district court did not hold a hearing on Valley's motion, and it denied the motion without comment. 47 A district court's denial of a new trial motion is reversible only for abuse of discretion. In non-jury cases, the grant of a new trial is usually reserved for instances in which the trial was infected with 'manifest errors of law or fact.'  United States Gypsum Co. v. Schiavo Bros., Inc., 668 F.2d 172, 180 (3d Cir.1981) (quoting 6A Moore's Federal Practice p 59.07 (2d ed.)), cert denied, 456 U.S. 961, 102 S.Ct. 2038, 72 L.Ed.2d 485 (1982). In this case, the court acted well within its discretion in denying Valley's motion. The photographs relied on by Valley do not in any way suggest that the fifty-seven shipments at issue here were not handled in compliance with the terms of Tariff 205. The photographs were taken one year after the last of those shipments was completed. More significantly, they were taken at a facility that has no connection with the disputed shipments. In short, Valley failed to show that the testimony of Authority's witness caused the district court to make material errors of fact. 9