Court Opinion

ID: 9465464
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 00:47:11.787368+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:39:11.682498
License: Public Domain

McKAY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
The critical determination in this case is what level of permittee status various individuals had under the contract of insurance covering the Ahrens family automobiles. Since the trial court submitted that issue to the jury under proper instructions and the jury resolved it in favor of the plaintiff injured party, we may upset the refusal of the trial court to give a judgment notwithstanding the verdict only if, as the majority correctly observes, the evidence points only one way — against the verdict. The standard has not troubled the courts; its application has.
I am simply unable to say that there was insufficient evidence to allow the case to go to the jury. I concede that the plaintiff’s evidence was somewhat confused and, indeed, even contradictory. However, as to the permission given by the parents to the daughter Debbie, I believe there was more than a scintilla of evidence in support of the conclusion that she had adequate permission to use the family automobile. Testifying at *579trial, Debbie’s father suggested that his daughter had permission to drive:
I think they asked Joe if we ever specifically told Debbie that she could not take the car or drive. I think this is in reference to that, that I said we never, you know, specified that she couldn’t take the car, but it was understood on down the line, that I think it probably started with Beth and then Shawnna and then Debbie.
Record, vol. 2, at 146. In the context of the Ahrens’ familial situation, where Mrs. Ahrens’ disabilities caused the parents to delegate substantial responsibilities to their daughters, this statement constitutes more than a scintilla of evidence of permission.
It is admitted that if Debbie had the same authority that Beth and Shawnna had, then the verdict has to stand. Even though it was contradicted, the quoted testimony, in context, was sufficient to permit the jury to determine that there was a general understanding in the family supportive of its verdict. I therefore respectfully dissent and would sustain the decision below.