Court Opinion

ID: 9713441
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:15:29.594731+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:18.813233
License: Public Domain

FOSHEIM, Justice
(dissent).
While the special concurrence argues that Parham does not really conflict with Jerke, *879the point is that the majority assumes a conflict and then proceeds to hold that both rules are viable, the Parham rule appropriate for cases based on circumstantial evidence. To my knowledge no standard of review, in either criminal or civil litigation, has ever been based on a distinction between direct and circumstantial evidence. We should, and can, avoid such a distinction now. Any existing ambiguity in judging a motion n. o. v. should be resolved, regardless of the nature of the evidence, by either adhering to the Jerke rule or the rule applied in the Parham line of cases.
Also, while I recognize that our ground rules for reviewing the trial court’s action on a motion n. o. v. and a motion for a new trial are different, in this case both motions challenged the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict. The majority states "... Cammack argues that he presented evidence sufficient to sustain the jury verdict and therefore the trial court erred in granting relief. We agree.” The majority opinion then disagrees with Cammack’s argument that the trial court erred in granting plaintiff’s motion for a new trial based on insufficient evidence. To reverse the trial court on one motion and affirm it on the other, for the same reason, is inconsistent.