Opinion ID: 1890564
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence Issue

Text: The Third District states that without the Chaffin testimony against DuPont, there is insufficient evidence in this record to establish that Benlate was sprayed on the farm on the dates in question. 748 So.2d at 1113. Thus, the Third District found insufficient evidence to establish that Mrs. Castillo was sprayed with Benlate, and reversed the jury's verdict against DuPont. Contrary to the Third District's assertion, the Castillos do not have to establish that Benlate was sprayed, they need only present the greater weight of evidence that it was. See Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Civil) PL 5 (defining greater weight of the evidence as more persuasive and convincing force and effect of the entire evidence in the case). By conclusively stating that the facts are insufficient to establish that Benlate was sprayed, the district court apparently reevaluates the evidence. It is a basic tenet of appellate review that appellate courts do not reevaluate the evidence and substitute their judgment for that of the jury. See Carter v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 778 So.2d 932 (Fla.2000) (citing Helman v. Seaboard Coast Line RR. Co., 349 So.2d 1187, 1189 (Fla.1977)). [I]f there is any competent evidence to support a verdict, that verdict must be sustained regardless of the District Court's opinion as to its appropriateness. Helman, 349 So.2d at 1189. Because we find that there is competent evidence to support a verdict against DuPont, that verdict must be sustained. Donna Castillo testified that she was covered by an odorless and colorless liquid being sprayed by a tractor on the upick field on November 1 or 2, 1989. The evidence in support of the fact that the liquid was Benlate includes: (1) Chaffin's testimony that Pine Island purchased twelve pounds of Benlate on May 4, 1989; (2) Chaffin's testimony that Benlate could not have been used in May 1989 because the plants had been harvested in April and there were no plants upon which to spray it; (3) testimony that the next time Benlate could have been used was in the fall of 1989; (4) Chaffin's testimony that chemicals were sometimes purchased in advance of the farm's need if they could be purchased at a bargain; (5) the amount of Benlate purchased in May 1989 was the proper amount to be used on the field Mrs. Castillo walked past on November 1 or 2; (6) although the farm sometimes returned chemicals to the distributor if they were not used, there is no evidence the Benlate was returned; (7) Pine Island planted tomatoes on October 25, 1989, in the field Mrs. Castillo passed on November 1 or 2; (8) Benlate could have been used on the tomatoes on November 1 or 2; (9) only one of the farm's tractors was equipped to spray Benlate, and that tractor fit Mrs. Castillo's description of the tractor she saw the day she was sprayed. The dissent submits that there was no evidence whatsoever that the substance sprayed on Mrs. Castillo was Benlate. In support, the dissent states that Chaffin's testimony is direct evidence to the contrary. Although Chaffin did state at one point during the questioning that Benlate purchased in May was used in May, he also admitted that such a statement was merely speculation. In fact, Chaffin admitted that he had no recollection of what chemicals were used or when they were used in 1989. Q. [Ferraro] With regard to spraying, you talked about different sprays and sir, you can't give this jury any accurate information with regard to what was sprayed and when at the field in 1989, can you sir? A. [Chaffin] All that I can do is look at the records and talk about possibilities. That's all I can do. You are correct. Furthermore, Chaffin's statement that the Benlate was used in May 1989 was contrary to his deposition testimony. Plaintiffs' counsel used the deposition testimony to impeach Chaffin's credibility. Additionally, according to Chaffin's testimony, there would likely have been no plants upon which to spray the Benlate in May 1989. The growing season was over and the plants would have been harvested in April. The testimony upon which the dissent relies to assert that the Benlate was unequivocally used in May must be considered in light of the transcript in its entirety. Chaffin's credibility was impeached by his prior inconsistent statement, he admitted that it was mere speculation that the Benlate was used in May, and the jury heard Chaffin admit to making misleading statements. The jury certainly acted reasonably in rejecting Chaffin's unequivocal claim that Benlate was not sprayed on the field on November 1 or 2. The dissent next argues that the evidence shows that all the chemicals purchased in May 1989 would have been returned to the distributor in June 1989, relying on the testimony of Dan Daniels, a representative of the distributor. Daniels merely stated that Pine Island returned unused and unopened chemicals at the end of the growing season in June, and Benlate was not among the chemicals returned. If the jury reasonably rejected Chaffin's testimony that Pine Island used the Benlate in May, it could have reasonably interpreted Daniels' testimony as support for the fact that the Benlate was saved for use in November, especially since no Benlate was shown to be purchased prior to the late October planting. Furthermore, Chaffin admitted that certain chemical purchases were made based on the fact that the farm could get them at bargain prices. The evidence shows that the price of Benlate was increased from the spring to the fall in 1989. He also admitted that the farm sometimes stored chemicals for future use. So the jury could reasonably conclude that Pine Island purchased the Benlate at a bargain price in the spring, and saved it for use in the fall. Next, the dissent once again relies on Chaffin's testimony to support the position that whatever was sprayed on the tomatoes on November 1 or 2 was not Benlate. Chaffin testified that he never used Benlate in the first week after planting tomatoes. But, again, Chaffin admitted that he could not give the jury accurate information with regard to what was sprayed and when in 1989, and Chaffin admitted, All that I can do is look at the records and talk about possibilities. That's all I can do. You are correct. The dissent also cites the testimony of Pine Island's spray manager and a plant pathologist, who stated that Benlate would not have been used prophylactically on November 1 or 2. However, Jack Wishart, the owner of Pine Island, testified that in the past Benlate had been used as a ground prophylactic. The plant pathologist testified that farmers usually start spraying fungicides prophylactically a week after planting if the plants need it. The plant pathologist also stated that if one plant was afflicted with a fungus, the farm might spray Benlate as a preventative. A. [Daniels] ... A lot of times you maybe will have one plant with a problem and all the others wouldn't have the problem so you spray to protect those plants. Q. [Ferraro] So you spray all the other plants to protect them even though they don't have the disease and that would be a situation that could occur with Benlate, correct? A. If there was white mold in the field. And the spray manager also admitted the use of fungicides on tomato plants a week or two after planting. In fact, even the district court acknowledged: There was testimony which established that Benlate can be used prophylactically as early as the first week after planting of tomatoes. If the tomato plants were planted on the same day as the strawberries, or on the next day, such a prophylactic spraying of the tomato plants would have occurred on November 1st or 2nd. Castillo, 748 So.2d at 1112. It is the trial court's duty to determine whether any of the inferences accord with logic and reason or human experience. Voelker v. Combined Ins. Co. of America, 73 So.2d 403, 406 (Fla.1954). If there are no inferences, or the inferences do not accord with logic, reason, or human experience, then the plaintiff's case fails. Id. We cannot say that no reasonable person could infer from the evidence that the substance sprayed was Benlate. A jury question is presented when the evidence is susceptible to inference that would allow recovery even though there are opposing inferences that are equally reasonable. See Owens v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., 802 So.2d 315, 323 (Fla.2001) (citing Thoma v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., 649 So.2d 277, 279 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995) (concluding that the fact that there might be a plethora of reasonable inferences other than the inferences raised by appellants creates a jury issue)). The evidence in this case is sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable person could conclude that Mrs. Castillo was sprayed with Benlate. Therefore, the trial court properly submitted this case to the jury. Both DuPont and Pine Island argue that the Castillos' direct causation case is based upon stacked inferences, which violates the rule that an inference cannot be the basis for another inference unless the first inference meets a higher standard of proof. See Voelker. But in this case, there is no stacking of inferences. Based on the direct evidence, the jury need only reach the conclusion that the substance was Benlate. The jury was given numerous facts which, when considered collectively, could reasonably support a single conclusion: that the substance sprayed was Benlate. The rule against stacking inferences does not, therefore, prevent the jury from deciding this case. The dissent further argues that even if Mrs. Castillo was sprayed with Benlate, the jury must also infer that the exposure was a sufficient concentration to be of harm to Mrs. Castillo's fetus, thereby requiring stacked inferences. Mrs. Castillo testified that she was wet all over after being sprayed. Using the data from Dr. Brent, DuPont's expert, the plaintiffs' expert testified that a finger-nail sized amount of benomyl would have been sufficient to cause the birth defect. Next, the Castillos' expert testified that he performed in-vitro testing, and considered the results of other testing, to determine the lowest concentration of benomyl that would induce human cell death. This conclusion is independent of any fact or finding that Mrs. Castillo was sprayed with Benlate. In other words, if there is an inference needed to conclude that the exposure level of benomyl was sufficient to cause harm to Mrs. Castillo's fetus, it is a parallel inference, not a stacked inference. See, e.g., Belden v. Lynch, 126 So.2d 578 (Fla. 2d DCA 1961) (concluding that the negligence of a driver who struck a parked car was not shown by piling inference upon inference in succession, but rather from what may be described as parallel inferences arising under the circumstances). The conclusion drawn from the expert's testing that a certain concentration level of benomyl causes human cell death is independent of any circumstantial or direct evidence that shows Mrs. Castillo was sprayed with Benlate. One inference need not be established before the next inference can be considered. Each fact inferred is independent of the other. Therefore, there was no stacking of inferences required before the jury could reach its verdict.