Court Opinion

ID: 9506969
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 21:16:20.181874+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:07:12.407125
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE HASWELL
(concurring in part and dissenting in part):
I concur in the majority holding that there is no substantial credible evidence that the accident caused plaintiff’s fusion failure. I also concur with the majority in finding evidence to support some degree of aggravation of a preexisting back injury.
I cannot agree that we, as an appellate court, can separate and determine the amount of damages attributable to aggravation of the preexisting back injury from those attributable to the fusion failure, reduce the judgment accordingly, and give the plaintiff the option of accepting the reduced award or securing a new trial. The trial judge must make this factual determination and fix the damages accordingly.
I would award a new trial on the amount of such damages.