Court Opinion

ID: 9727286
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 13:29:20.673423+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:35.918991
License: Public Domain

Baldwin, J.
(dissenting). In passing upon a motion to set aside a verdict, the trial court exercises a judicial discretion inherent in and necessary to a trial to a jury. Cables v. Bristol Water Co., 86 Conn. 223, 225, 84 A. 928; Howe v. Raymond, 74 Conn. 68, 71, 49 A. 854. In an appeal from that ruling, this court reviews the action of the trial court to determine whether its discretion was abused. Joanis v. Engstrom, 135 Conn. 248, 251, 63 A.2d 151; Brower v. Perkins, 135 Conn. 675, 681, 68 A.2d 146. It is to be remembered that the trial court saw and heard the witnesses and has a better opportunity of evaluating all the testimony than the appellate court. In considering the action of the trial court upon the record, we must accord every presumption in favor of its correctness. Joanis v. Engstrom, supra, 253. While there was evidence that some portions of the ramp were worn and defective, the plaintiff’s own testimony was that he fell because his “left toe stubbed against the top crossbar of [the] ramp.” There was no evidence that this portion of the ramp was defective or that the defendant had any notice that it had any dangerous propensities. It was the usual type of ramp used to wheel crates and boxes from the sidewalk into a wholesale produce store. It had been in place for more than a year. Its purpose, construction and condition must have been obvious to the plaintiff, who had been to the store many times. There was evidence that there were some lettuce leaves on the ramp, but the plaintiff must have observed them when he entered the store. The jury could not have concluded otherwise than that he failed to exercise due care. Farkas v. Halliwell, 136 *465Conn. 440, 445, 72 A.2d 648; Seabridge v. Poli, 98 Conn. 297, 304, 119 A. 214. Furthermore, there was no evidence from which the jury could have found that the defendant knew there were lettuce leaves on the ramp or that they had been there a sufficient length of time to have charged him with such knowledge. Edwards v. F. W. Woolworth Co., 129 Conn. 245, 27 A.2d 163. I cannot say that the trial court’s discretion was abused in this case.