Opinion ID: 1248491
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: New Trials Granted by General Order

Text: We hold further, that when a trial judge has granted a new trial by a general order, i.e., has stated no ground or grounds therefor, the appellate court ordinarily must assume that the order was, or at least may have been, granted in the exercise of the trial court's inherent power to grant a new trial on the ground that substantial justice had not been done. Bond v. Ovens, supra ; Stuckrath v. Schwarz, 10 Wn. (2d) 1, 115 P. (2d) 974. And, as we have just seen, that carries with it the further assumption that substantial justice has not been done because of conditions and circumstances that cannot be made a part of the record and hence are not subject to review. The result is that when a new trial is granted without any statement of the grounds or reason therefor, or when it is granted on the ground that substantial justice has not been done, ... our inquiry is limited to the determination of the question whether the evidence was sufficient to take the case to the jury, and, unless we can say in such case that the verdict of the jury was, as a matter of law, the only verdict that could be rendered, the order granting a new trial must be affirmed. Henry v. Larsen, 19 Wn. (2d) 690, 143 P. (2d) 841, and cases there cited.