Opinion ID: 1161299
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Plaintiff's Motion for Additur or for a New Trial Limited to the Issue of Damages.

Text: Drummond was 60 years of age at the time of the accident. After the accident, he was hospitalized in Washoe Medical Center, where he was treated by Dr. John Becker. The doctor testifed that when he examined Drummond his forearm was crushed, and he inserted a pin and placed the arm in traction to aid circulation. Such treatment was not sufficient, because of the extent of the injury to the arm, and upon the setting in of gangrene, amputation of the arm became inevitable. In addition to the injury to his arm, Drummond suffered a fractured rib. He was given demerol and codeine to ease his pain, and following the amputation he was later fitted with a prosthetic device. The doctor testified that Drummond has an overgrowth of calcium on the stump of his arm which may give him discomfort, but which is not serious enough to warrant surgical intervention. He also stated that amputation entails adverse psychological effects, such as feelings of helplessness and inadequacy. The doctor further testified that as a result of the amputation Drummond has lost the ability to do those things that require the use of a hand, and that a prosthetic device is not, and cannot be, an adequate substitute for a human hand; that a prosthetic device requires maintenance and period replacement at 5-year intervals or more frequently, depending on use. The medical expenses incurred to the date of the trial amounted to $4,640.35. The evidence established that the cost of such future medical expense with replacement every 5 years over Drummond's remaining 14.5 years' life expectancy, based upon the cost of the components of the prosthetic device, would be $3,087.70. The evidence further indicated that, even though Drummond's employment history was sporadic, he was employed immediately prior to the accident at an hourly rate of $8.21, and that his wages for the 3 days immediately preceding the accident had been $196.00. Although the jury was properly instructed as to the elements of damage for which compensation should be awarded if it found that Hill and Mid-West were liable for Drummond's injuries, the jury's verdict, while in favor of Drummond on the issue of liability, awarded damages in the total amount of only $9,640.35. Drummond filed a timely motion for additur to the verdict, predicated upon the inadequacy of the award, or, in the alternative, for a new trial limited to the issue of damages. The motion was denied. [4] It has been recognized in Nevada that our courts have the power to condition an order for a new trial on the plaintiff's acceptance of remittitur. See Hotel Riviera, Inc. v. Short, 80 Nev. 505, 396 P.2d 855 (1964); Hahn v. Yackley, 84 Nev. 49, 436 P.2d 215 (1968); Bonelli v. Jones, 26 Nev. 176, 65 P. 374 (1901). Our courts, however, have not heretofore had the power to condition an order for a new trial on acceptance of an additur. We believe, for the reasons stated below, that they should have such power. The early common law, prior to the seventeenth century, did not contain any provision for setting aside a jury verdict. It was not until the end of the eighteenth century that new trials were granted for excessive damages in tort actions. See Bender, Additur  The Power of the Trial Court to Deny a New Trial on the Condition that Damages Be Increased, 3 Cal. W.L.Rev. 1 at 3-4 (1967). The use of additur and remittitur never developed to any significant extent in England. However, remittitur became fairly common in the United States during the nineteenth century and is now almost universally accepted. Id., at 4-6. Additur, on the other hand, developed differently. In 1935, the issue of the validity of an additur order was presented to the United States Supreme Court. Dimick v. Schiedt, 293 U.S. 474, 55 S.Ct. 296, 79 L.Ed. 603 (1935). The High Court held that an additur order infringed upon the plaintiff's right to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, predicating its holding upon the premise that the common law rules governing the granting of new trials as they existed at the time of the adoption of the Federal Constitution in 1791 were controlling. The historical approach, condemned by the Justices who dissented in Dimick, as the search of the legal scrap heap of a century and a half ago, [5] has generally been rejected by the state courts that have considered the issue of additur. [6] The guarantee of trial by jury provided in the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is not binding on the states, [7] is substantially different from the jury trial guarantees of most state constitutions, including the Nevada Constitution. The Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution states: In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. (Emphasis added.) It was the constitutional prohibition of reexamination of a fact tried by a jury, other than according to common law, which was the basis of the Court's decision in Dimick. Thus, the amount of damages is a fact tried by a jury; common law did not permit reexamination of such fact by a motion for additur; therefore, reexamination of the amount of damages by additur was in violation of the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution. However, the reexamination clause forms no part of the jury trial guarantee set forth in article 1, section 3, of the Nevada Constitution, which states: The right of trial by Jury shall be secured to all and remain inviolate forever; ... Nevada courts, like the courts of other states with similar constitutional provisions, are not inextricably bound to the accidents of history, nor compelled forever to retain the trappings of 1791 jurisprudence with regard to the nature of a jury trial. See Feldhahn v. Van Deventer, 253 Iowa 1194, 115 N.W.2d 862 (1962); and Richmond v. Campbell, 148 W. Va. 595, 136 S.E.2d 877 (1964). In Jehl v. Southern Pac. Co., 66 Cal.2d 821, 59 Cal. Rptr. 276, 280, 281, 282-283, 427 P.2d 988, 992, 993, 994-995 (1967), Chief Justice Traynor, speaking for the California Supreme Court, reviewed and rejected the reasoning of Dimick and affirmed the power of the California courts to award additur, stating: In Dorsey [ v. Barba, 38 Cal.2d 350, 240 P.2d 604 (Cal. 1952)] this court held that additur would deny a plaintiff's right to jury trial as guaranteed by article 1, section 7 of the California Constitution. Although the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution is not binding on the states and differs significantly in language from the California constitutional provision, Dorsey relied in large part on Dimick v. Schiedt, 293 U.S. 474, 55 S.Ct. 296, 79 L.Ed. 603, ... Dimick was a five-to-four decision and has been vigorously criticized. Like Dorsey, Dimick was based on an historical and logical analysis that was open to serious question... . ... In assessing the precedents, we search for the meaning and substance of jury trial and are not rigidly bound by the exacting rules that happen to be found on `the legal scrap heap of a century and a half ago.' ( Dimick v. Schiedt, supra, 293 U.S. at 495, 55 S.Ct. [296] at 305, [Stone, J., dissenting]; see People v. Hickman, 204 Cal. 470, 476, 268 P. 909 [1925], [204 Cal. 470] 270 P. 1117 [1928].) ... ... Remittitur happened to develop earlier than additur because courts undertook to grant new trials for excessive damages long before they took similar action on the ground of inadequacy. (See McCormick on Damages, pp. 72-73; Washington, Damages in Contract at Common Law, 47 L.Q.Rev. 345, 365, fn. 7.) The issue of additur was not presented until modern times, but it is a logical step in the growth of the law relating to unliquidated damages as remittitur was at an earlier date. Its acceptance, though still somewhat retarded, is growing. It should not be treated differently from other modern devices aimed at making the relationship between judge and jury as to damages as well as to other matters, one that preserves the essentials of the right to jury trial without shackling modern procedure to outmoded precedents. Additur does not detract from the substance of the common law trial by jury. Like its fraternal twin remittitur, now over 100 years old in this state, it promotes economy and efficiency in judicial proceedings. (Footnotes omitted.) The tenuous argument that remittitur leaves standing a part of the jury's award, whereas additur constituted a bald addition to the verdict, was considered and rejected by Chief Justice Traynor, who stated, in footnote 8 to the Jehl opinion, 59 Cal. Rptr. at 280, 427 P.2d at 992: ... There are several replies to this argument. In reaching the larger verdict involved in remittitur, the jury has rejected all smaller amounts just as they have rejected all larger amounts in reaching the smaller verdict involved in additur. Neither verdict is more that of the jury than the other. (See Carlin, Remittiturs and Additurs, ..., 49 W. Va.L.Q. 1, 18, 24-25; see also [Note,] 44 Yale L.J. 318, 323.) Only additur retains all that was contained in the jury's verdict, and in both additur and remittitur something is taken from the litigant who is relying on the verdict. (See Bender, Additur  The Power of the Trial Court to Deny a New Trial on the Condition that Damages be Increased, California Law Revision Commission, Recommendation and Study relating to Additur (Oct. 1966) at pp. 617, 647-648.) The Nevada Constitution guarantees to Respondents Hill and Mid-West the right to a jury trial, i.e., the right to have factual issues determined by a jury. But the right to a jury trial does not mean that an error committed by a jury may not be corrected, merely because the vehicle of correcting such error was not known or practiced at common law when Nevada's Constitution was adopted. Cf. Misty Management Corp. v. First Judicial Dist. Court, 83 Nev. 180, 183, 426 P.2d 728, 729 (1967): The notion that a favorable ruling upon a Rule 50(b) motion for judgment n.o.v. somehow violates the constitutional guaranty of a jury trial has been rejected by the United States Supreme Court. Neely v. Martin K. Eby Construction Co., 386 U.S. 317, 87 S.Ct. 1072, 18 L.Ed.2d 75 (1967), ... see also, Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Duncan, 311 U.S. 243, 61 S.Ct. 189, 85 L.Ed. 147 (1940). Further discussion on this point is not warranted. The same reasoning applies to other post-trial procedures for correcting verdicts, and we find no reason in logic or common sense for excluding additur therefrom. [8] We conclude, therefore, that additur does not detract from the substance of the common law trial by jury. Rather, additur, like its twin, remittitur, promotes economy and efficiency in judicial proceedings. Additur does not deprive a defendant of the right to go to the jury on any issue. It operates only in the event a plaintiff is dissatisfied with a jury's verdict. There is no essential difference between the procedures appropriate for remittitur and additur. The court upon appropriate motion should first determine whether the damages are clearly inadequate and, if so, whether the case would be a proper one for granting a motion for a new trial limited to damages. If both conditions exist, the court in its discretion may issue an order granting the motion for a new trial, unless the defendant consents to an additur set by the court, within the time it allows. We have reviewed the damages suffered by Drummond, and we have concluded that the award therefor is clearly inadequate. Drummond's medical expenses incurred at the time of trial were $4,640.35, and evidence indicated that future medical expenses, including maintenance and replacement of the prosthetic device, would exceed $4,000. Yet the total jury award was only $9,640.35. The record shows that Drummond has suffered a permanent injury resulting in extensive disability. Yet he apparently was awarded no damages for such permanent disability; nor could the award have included any sum for pain and suffering. In Jehl v. Southern Pac. Co., supra , the California Supreme Court held that an award of $100,000 was grossly inadequate for the loss of a leg and an injury which might result in the loss of a portion of the other leg. In Yost v. General Elec. Co., 173 F. Supp. 630 (S.D.N.Y. 1959), the court, sitting without a jury, assessed damages at $125,000 for a 65-year-old machinist whose left arm was amputated two inches below the elbow. The above cases demonstrate that when a limb is lost or severely disabled, the damage to the victim far exceeds just the medical expenses and loss of earnings. An arm or a leg is an integral, functioning part of the human body, and because its separation results in disability as well as pain and suffering it is recognized that an award of medical expenses or an amount slightly over the medical expenses, as in this case, is inadequate. We therefore reverse the order denying Drummond's motion for additur or, in the alternative, a new trial limited to the issue of damages, and we remand the case to the district court with instructions to grant Drummond a new trial limited to the issue of his damages, unless the respondents, Hill and Mid-West, shall, within 20 days after the clerk of the court has filed the remittitur in this case, agree to an additur of $30,359.65, amounting to a total verdict of $40,000.00. The order denying respondents' motion for a directed verdict or judgment notwithstanding the verdict is affirmed. GUNDERSON, C.J., and BATJER, ZENOFF and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.