Opinion ID: 2569599
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Damages for Hay

Text: [¶ 31] After the trial, the sellers requested the trial court grant a judgment as a matter of law because the buyers failed to offer the jury a mathematical computation or method to support the $10,430 damage award for hay. The trial court struck the jury's finding of hay damages stating: [T]here was no evidence whatsoever shown which would quantify the amount [the sellers] should have paid to [the buyers]. The jury was not allowed to speculate concerning the amount of damage and the Court finds that no reasonable jury could have concluded that based upon the testimony presented in court, $10,430.00 was an appropriate amount to have awarded [the buyers]. [¶ 32] Our duty is to determine whether the evidence was legally insufficient to support the jury verdict on this particular issue. Sundown, Inc., 8 P.3d at 330. Plaintiff's Exhibit 34 is the only evidence which the buyers could argue substantiates the award. The exhibit is a bank ledger with an entry on May 22, 1995, which reflected a bank operating loan disbursement to the buyers in the amount of $10,430. The notation in the column entitled Purpose of Advance/Source of Repayment states per John hay. The buyers offered no further factual basis to support the $10,430 amount other than this exhibit. There was absolutely no testimonial evidence that the loan was used to purchase hay to feed the cattle. Furthermore, the buyers acknowledged that the sellers' only contractual obligation was to furnish sufficient first-cutting hay for the leased cattle. The buyers further conceded they used the first-cutting hay to feed both their own cattle and the leased cattle. Therefore, the amount chosen by the jury could not have accounted for the amount used to feed the buyers' cattle. A jury is not permitted to speculate or engage in conjecture in awarding damages. Martinez v. City of Cheyenne, 791 P.2d 949, 960 (Wyo.1990). Therefore, pursuant to W.R.C.P. 50, the trial court properly struck the $10,430 jury award due to legally insufficient evidence.