Court Opinion

ID: 9484354
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:50:06.922463+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:50:11.160953
License: Public Domain

BOYCE F. MARTIN, Jr., Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I join in Judge Wellford’s opinion except for the sections which discuss Lima Hospital’s motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The only issues which we are called upon to review are: (1) whether the district court abused its discretion in granting the hospital a new trial; and (2) whether there were any errors in the second trial which would warrant our reversal of the judgment entered following that trial. I do not believe that we need to consider whether the hospital should have received a judgment notwithstanding the verdict following the first trial because we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting the new trial. Under Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, so long as the proper motions are made at the appropriate times, a district judge may grant a new trial as an alternative to issuing a judgment notwithstanding the verdict. When a district court decides to grant a new trial, I do not believe that we should review the district court’s refusal to grant the alternative motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. I would therefore omit the references to the hospital’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict because they are unnecessary for our decision. In all other respects I join the opinion of Circuit Judge Wellford.