Court Opinion

ID: 9722246
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 09:22:10.287337+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:33.004073
License: Public Domain

M. J. Kelly, J.
(concurring). I concur in Judge Allen’s opinion because I feel that under all of the circumstances of this fiercely contested trial all parties were well represented and had what I perceive to be a fair trial. I do not agree with the statement that "the record is devoid of evidence tending to show that it was the plaintiffs’ conduct rather than the defect which caused the harm”. There was evidence from which the jury could have found plaintiffs guilty of contributory negligence. However the jury obviously did not. An appellate court cannot give more weight to that evidence than did the jury. If the jury had, however, found no cause of action, I would likewise vote not to disturb that verdict.
We are taking a critical step here in affirming the Sanders remand for re-trial on the issue of damages only. I feel compelled to mention this because I think we should make it clear to the bench and bar that we are opting for a rule which would vest discretion in the trial court where liability has been determined favorably to plaintiff and adverse to defendant to order a new trial on the basis of damages only where the damage award was either clearly inadequate or clearly excessive. We do not go that far in this holding because we are sustaining a jury verdict as to liability and damages in favor of Dooms who had by far the .greater familiarity with this machine and who would be more likely to have been no caused than Sanders who had been placed on this machine only the day of the accident, and whose *26injuries resulted from an impulsive attempt to save his fellow man from catastrophe.
Had this same jury not assessed these awards I would vote differently. In my opinion $50,000 for the loss of use of a hand is not per se inadequate. It is the comparison which offends. The jury must have been influenced by one or more of the prejudicial factors mentioned by the trial judge in his opinion filed January 24, 1974. His on-the-scene perspective is far the better one in the overall analysis of this issue. I cannot say there was a clear abuse of discretion.