Opinion ID: 1902399
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence to Sustain the Jury's Verdict.

Text: Appellants contend, and we agree, that a review of all the testimony in the case below establishes by a clear preponderance of the evidence that the jury's verdict was palpably wrong and manifestly unjust. The law is well settled that a presumption of validity accompanies a jury verdict on appeal. But, while this may be the rule, it is not absolute. In Insurance Company of North America v. Mays, 278 Ala. 20, 24, 174 So.2d 700, 704 (1965), Justice Lawson, quoting from an earlier case, said: `... this court has not renounced its duty nor neglected its power to revise the verdicts of juries and the conclusions of trial judges on questions of fact, where, in our opinion, after making all proper allowances and indulging all reasonable intendments in favor of the court below, we reach a clear conclusion that the finding and judgment are wrong....' Put another way, an appellate court should revise a jury verdict or judge's findings if it is convinced by a preponderance of the evidence that the verdict is wrong and unjust. Prescott v. Martin, 331 So.2d 240 (Ala.1976). See Clark v. Clark, 280 Ala. 644, 197 So.2d 447 (1967); Tallapoosa River Electric Co-op., Inc. v. Burns, 271 Ala. 435, 124 So.2d 672 (1960); Barber v. Stephenson, 260 Ala. 151, 69 So.2d 251 (1954). Taking into consideration all reasonable inferences and presumptions, our thorough review of the record below leaves us with the conclusion that the jury verdict cannot be supported by the evidence adduced before the trial Court. Although the trial Court erred in submitting the reformation issue to a jury, we need not remand for a nonjury trial of this issue in view of our decision concerning the sufficiency of the evidence.