Court Opinion

ID: 9672462
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:55:29.117315+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:16.362528
License: Public Domain

COVINGTON, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in the principal opinion’s holding on all points but the first, that which the principal opinion entitles “The Damages Exhibit.” Although I agree with the principal opinion that the trial court abused its discretion in permitting the “damages exhibit” to be examined by the jury in its deliberations, I do not find the error to be prejudicial. The principal opinion assumes that the fact that the jury set damages in the exact amount listed on the chart as the “high” total damage award is sufficient to establish prejudice. I respectfully disagree.
The principal opinion lavishly affords presumptions without basis in the law. The exhibit at issue presented in two columns the high estimate and the low estimate of the following categories of damages: loss of income; past pain and suffering; future health care; future major expenses; future pain and suffering. The principal opinion presumes that the jury, having seen the damage chart marked as an exhibit, would have taken the exhibit as “authoritative evidence.” The principal opinion ignores the fact that the exhibit sets forth the low, as well as the high, estimated damages. The principal opinion impermissibly speculates regarding the use to which the jury may have put the estimates. The principal opinion speculates that the jury failed to follow the instructions and thoughtlessly accepted as evidence the highest damage figure.
The principal opinion’s analysis completely disregards the fact that the plaintiffs presented to the jury in closing argument all of the information on the exhibit, all without objection, and that there would have been no basis for objection had one been proffered; nothing impermissible was argued. Furthermore, there was no error in the trial court’s allowing counsel to use the chart to argue damages. See Bower v. Hog Builders, Inc., 461 S.W.2d 784, 803-04 (Mo.1970).
The principal opinion loses sight of the underlying premise that the jury is presumed to follow the instructions given by the trial court. Barlow v. Thornhill, 537 S.W.2d 412, 422 (Mo. banc 1976). The trial court in this case properly instructed the jury on the issue of damages. This Court should presume that the jury followed the damage instruction. The trial court instructed the jury in this case to consider only the evidence and the reasonable inferences derived from the evidence. MAI 3.01. This Court should presume that the jury followed MAI 3.01. The trial court properly instructed the jury that opening statements and closing arguments were not to be considered as “proof of a fact.” MAI 2.01 [1978 revision]. This Court is required to presume that the jury also followed MAI 2.01.
If in their deliberations after closing arguments, the jury determined to compensate plaintiffs at the highest estimate suggested during the closing argument, having followed the court’s instructions, including having considered only the evidence and the reasonable inferences derived from the evidence, the jurors would have acted within their stated responsibilities. If a juror had independently recalled the high estimate from closing argument and the jury used that estimate as its verdict, this Court would not find reversible error. Because the damage chart showed the estimated high and low damages and reflected a presumptively error-free closing argument, I see insubstantial differences between the facts of this case and a case in which a juror independently recalled the *876high estimate from closing argument and the jury used that estimate as its verdict.
The presumption that the jury followed the instructions given by the trial court outweighs any presumption that the jury viewed the exhibit as “authoritative evidence.” I would affirm the trial court on this point.