Court Opinion

ID: 9670987
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:29:09.471078+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:07.588599
License: Public Domain

C. J. Hoehn, J.
(dissenting). While agreeing with the majority’s statement of the law, I disagree with the result.
In this case, the jury twice announced that they had arrived at a verdict of no cause of action.
When the jury notes indicated that the jury had reached a verdict, it was incumbent on the trial court to call the jury in and ask if they had arrived at a verdict. His failure to do so surely indicated to the jury that something further was expected of them.
The response of the jury was to award a verdict in the sum of $20,000 for scarring that the jury did not consider serious.
This writer is left with the abiding conviction that the conduct of the court, albeit unwittingly, coerced the jury verdict and resulted in a miscarriage of justice. I would reverse and remand for a new trial.