Opinion ID: 2283207
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: additional issues raised by defendant

Text: The defendant has raised several additional issues in its brief. We consider that the challenges are individually and cumulatively without merit and will, therefore, discuss summarily the points raised.
The defendant asserts that the trial justice's instructions in respect to the doctrine of sole control were inadequate. We disagree. Although the trial justice rejected defendant's requested instructions on this issue, he explained the theory of sole control or res ipsa loquitur to the jury in terms consonant with our then-controlling decision of Goyette v. Sousa, 90 R.I. 8, 153 A.2d 509 (1959). [4]
The trial justice denied two motions by defendant for directed verdict, one seeking a directed verdict on the strict-liability count and the other on the count of sole control. In order to prevail on a motion for directed verdict, the moving party must sustain the burden of establishing, in regard to the issue in question, that there is no material question of fact. The trial justice most view the evidence in the light most favorable to the opposing party, without weighing the evidence or considering the credibility of witnesses. DaVinci Creations, Inc. v. Nu-Frame Co., R.I., 418 A.2d 851 (1980); Montuori v. Narragansett Electric Co., R.I., 418 A.2d 5 (1980). The court must deny the motion if, after so construing the evidence and drawing all reasonable inferences supporting the position of the nonmoving party, the court finds issues of fact upon which reasonable persons might differ. Johnson v. Palange, R.I., 406 A.2d 360 (1979); Nagy v. McBurney, R.I., 392 A.2d 365 (1978); Powers v. Carvalho, 117 R.I. 519, 368 A.2d 1242 (1977). We have previously pointed out in section III of this opinion that issues of fact susceptible of various findings existed in respect to the issue of strict liability. Regarding the theory of sole control, a jury could have found that an agent of Ausdale controlled the operation and maintenance of the backhoe throughout the term of the lease and that the type of failure that occurred would not have happened in the absence of negligence. See Brimbau v. Ausdale Equipment Rental Corp., 119 R.I. at 24, 376 A.2d at 1063. Thus, a question of fact was presented concerning each issue that underlay the doctrine of sole control. See Parrillo v. Giroux Co., R.I., 426 A.2d 1313 (1981).
Late in the trial proceedings the court allowed plaintiff to amend his complaint to include an allegation of strict liability. The judge granted defendant a one-half-day continuance, and in that short time defendant obtained an expert to refute the evidence proffered by plaintiff's witnesses that the backhoe was defective. The defendant's expert based his opinion that the backhoe was not defective on the reports and records of plaintiff's experts. The plaintiff impeached the witness's opinion on re-cross-examination by establishing that defendant's expert had not read the reports in full. The defendant then sought to rehabilitate its witness by calling to the jury's attention the time constraints imposed upon the expert and upon defendant by the late-filed amendment. The trial justice refused to admit such evidence, and defendant now attacks that ruling as prejudicial error. The defendant asserts that the impeachment testimony created an impression on the jury of the witness's incompetence, which impression the judge did not allow defendant to rebut properly. We are of the opinion that legal rulings by the trial justice relating to amendment of pleadings are not an appropriate subject to be submitted to the jury. Consequently, it was certainly within the trial justice's discretion to exclude matter relating to the time of the amendment. In the event that the time constraints imposed upon defendant required relief, an appropriate request should have been directed to the trial justice. This would not include the raising of an issue of fact for the jury. Further, the transcript discloses that the testimony elicited on re-cross-examination of defendant's expert was well within the bounds of propriety and was not improperly prejudicial to defendant.
The defendant also contends that the trial justice permitted plaintiff's expert, Kendall Moultrop, to offer an opinion on the ultimate issue of the safety of the cable which was grounded solely upon the fact that an accident had occurred. This contention is not justified by the record. An examination of the testimony of plaintiff's expert discloses that his opinion concerning the defective backhoe cable was grounded upon evidence completely independent of the fact that an accident did occur.
The defendant's final assertion of error is that the trial justice wrongfully denied defendant's motion for new trial. The allegations in support of the motion for new trial are twofold: that the trial justice overlooked material evidence and was clearly wrong in finding that the cable examined by plaintiff's experts was in fact the cable that snapped at Warwick on September 16, 1966, and that the trial justice was clearly wrong in deciding that the jury verdict was not the result of passion, prejudice, and sympathy. We do not believe that the trial justice erred in either finding. Although the testimony concerning the identity of the cable whose failure caused the injury was not sufficient to resolve all doubts, it was adequate upon which to base an inference that the cable examined by the various experts was in fact the cable that precipitated plaintiff's injury. [5] The trial justice cannot be faulted for drawing such an inference. In regard to the allegation of passion, prejudice, and sympathy, the trial justice stated in his decision that the plaintiff's counsel in his final argument had not `whipped the jury up into an emotional frenzy.' The trial justice observed further that [i]f final argument by plaintiff's counsel was effective, that is what would be intended. Because the trial justice, and not we, witnessed counsel's closing argument, we must accord great weight to his observations regarding the emotional attitude of the jury. A reading of the transcript of the final argument of the plaintiff's counsel in the light of the deference to be accorded to the trial justice's front-row seat impels us to agree that the trial justice did not err in finding that the jury was appropriately influenced rather than improperly inflamed by the argument of the plaintiff's counsel. For the foregoing reasons, the defendant's appeal is denied and dismissed. The judgment of the Superior Court is affirmed, and the papers in the case may be remanded to the Superior Court. MURRAY and SHEA, JJ., did not participate.