Opinion ID: 1199771
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Issue Three Size of Verdict

Text: The Hospital argues the jury's award of damages was excessive and seeks vacation of the award. [16] An appellate court's role in analyzing the size of jury verdicts is quite limited. An appellate court will not disturb an award of damages made by a jury unless it is outside the range of substantial evidence in the record, or shocks the conscience of the court, or appears to have been arrived at as the result of passion or prejudice. Washburn, 120 Wn.2d at 268 (quoting Bingaman v. Grays Harbor Comm'ty Hosp., 103 Wn.2d 831, 835, 699 P.2d 1230 (1985)). An appellate court rarely overturns a jury verdict on this basis; it can review only the written record, while the factfinder and the trial judge were in the favored position of being able to evaluate the full range of evidence submitted. Washburn, 120 Wn.2d at 268 (citing Bingaman, 103 Wn.2d at 835). The damages suffered by young Brandan were serious, extensive and, in many respects, permanent in nature. He will never reach a mental age of more than 1 year; he will never be able to take care of himself, or even be able to physically move his own wheelchair; he will never be able to speak a sentence; he will be subject to numerous complicating illnesses, including seizures, respiratory infections and orthopedic problems; and his life expectancy has been considerably shortened. The evidence also reveals the inevitable hardship these injuries caused on Brandan's mother. Considerable evidence was presented in support of the award of damages, including expert evidence from Brandan's pediatric neurologist, a vocational rehabilitation counselor, a speech and language pathologist, and an economist. In short, Brandan has lost fundamental enjoyment of his infancy, childhood and future adult life. Moreover, significant aspects of the mother-child relationship have been destroyed. [17] The Hospital attempts to overcome the heavy presumption in favor of jury awards by comparing the size of its verdict to jury verdicts in other cases. The Hospital cites primarily to the case of Shaw v. United States, 741 F.2d 1202 (9th Cir.1984), in which the court stated it had reviewed Washington's reported verdicts in medical malpractice cases. The answer to the Hospital's argument was clearly stated in Washburn : We conclude that it is improper to assess the amount of a verdict based upon comparisons with verdicts in other cases. Washburn, 120 Wn.2d at 268. The jury awarded Brandan damages of approximately $56,000 for past economic damages, $4.4 million for future economic damages and $4.6 million for noneconomic damages. The jury awarded Brandan's mother damages of approximately $1.2 million. On the basis of the materials presented to us on appeal, we conclude the award is supported by substantial evidence, does not shock the conscience and was not improperly influenced by passion or prejudice. We reject the Hospital's challenge to the size of the verdict.