Court Opinion

ID: 6171669
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-02-05 19:36:24.86575+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:58:21.513948
License: Public Domain

Hofstadtbr, J.
(dissenting). I dissent and vote to affirm.
The conclusion as to the facts is not for us but was for the trial court. The record of a trial is not a mere deposition to be evaluated de novo. It is a usurpation of power to choose to do so in rejecting the result achieved by the trial court; for it is not within the appellate court’s competency to choose between possible results. Indeed, it is incumbent on it to exercise its province to the utmost stretch to sustain a judgment, not to disturb it — to avoid “ the monstrous penalty of a new trial ” (1 Wigmore, Evidence [3d ed.], § 21, p. 395).
Concur — Steuer, J. P., and Hecht, J.; Hofstadtbr, J., dissents in memorandum.