Opinion ID: 1213600
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: analysis

Text: As explained below, we agree with Chief Judge Hearn's dissent and find that there was evidence to support the inadequate warning verdict. Since the jury returned a general verdict, we need find only that there was evidence to support either the inadequate warning theory or the design defect theory in order to reinstate that verdict. Anderson v. South Carolina Dep't of Highways and Public Transportation, 322 S.C. 417, 472 S.E.2d 253 (1996)(two issue rule applied to general verdict). Accordingly, we address only the warning evidence. The majority of the Court of Appeals held that the JNOV on the warning theory should be upheld on a procedural ground. Specifically, it reviewed the trial court's JNOV order and extracted one sentence from that order: Had the batteries been disconnected the accident would not have happened. The Court of Appeals' majority characterized this sentence as constituting an independent ground [3] to support the JNOV on the warning theory. Since the majority found that petitioner had failed to challenge this independent ground on appeal, the Court of Appeals upheld the JNOV on the warning theory. There is no question that CAT warned against working on the loader's engine without disconnecting the batteries first, and that had the batteries been disconnected, the accident would not have occurred. As Chief Judge Hearn correctly pointed out in her dissent, however, this explicit warning was contradicted by other instructions and warnings given by CAT. The trial court's observation, seized upon by the Court of Appeals' majority, is no doubt a true statement. It is not, however, dispositive of the issue before the trial judge when deciding the JNOV: Whether there was any evidence that the warnings, as a whole, were inadequate. The majority of the Court of Appeals erred in relying on this mere observation by the trial judge as an independent ground to uphold the JNOV on the warning theory. Since the case comes before us on CAT's claim of entitlement to a directed verdict/JNOV, we review the facts in the light most favorable to Curcio. Sabb v. South Carolina State Univ., 350 S.C. 416, 567 S.E.2d 231 (2002). In considering a JNOV, the trial judge is concerned with the existence of evidence, not its weight. When considering a JNOV, neither [an appellate] court, nor the trial court has authority to decide credibility issues or to resolve conflicts in the testimony or the evidence. Reiland v. Southland Equip. Serv., Inc. 330 S.C. 617, 500 S.E.2d 145 (Ct.App.1998). The adequacy of a warning is generally a jury question. See, Allen v. Long Mfg. NC, Inc., supra . The jury's verdict must be upheld unless no evidence reasonably supports the jury's findings. Horry County v. Laychur, 315 S.C. 364, 434 S.E.2d 259 (1993). Curcio's expert testified that, although the service manual stated that the batteries should be disconnected before any work is done on the loader, the manual also stated in various places that the engine could be started when the loader's cab is tilted in the 24 position. The expert also testified that the words crank, start, and run had different meanings, and were used with different meanings in the manual. We recognize that there was conflicting evidence, but note that the trial judge is concerned with the existence of evidence, not the weight of the evidence, or credibility of the witness. [4] We have reviewed the record and agree with Chief Judge Hearn that the trial judge improperly weighed the evidence rather than merely considering its existence in granting CAT's JNOV motion on the inadequate warning theory. We therefore REVERSE. TOAL, C.J., MOORE, WALLER and BURNETT, JJ., concur.