Court Opinion

ID: 9777516
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 20:14:40.510347+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:55.668788
License: Public Domain

Tom GLAZE, Justice, dissenting. This court requires that before a trial court may substitute its view of the evidence for that of the jury, the jury’s verdict must be clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. A.R.C.P. Rule 59(a)(6). To determine whether the trial court abused its discretion, it is helpful to examine the order granting a new trial to determine the rationale for the trial court’s substitution of its view for that of twelve jurors. Here, the order reflects only that it was the trial court’s opinion that the negligence of Honeycutt, if any, was exceeded by the negligence of Young, and that Honeycutt suffered damage as a result of the automobile accident. Without more explanation, it is impossible to ascertain whether the trial court abused its discretion without properly examining the evidence. In reviewing the evidence and instructions to the jury, I submit the record fails to support the trial court’s substituted and conflicting opinion that the jury’s verdict was clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. Therefore, I must dissent from the majority’s opinion upholding the trial court’s ruling granting Honeycutt a new trial. The majority opinion recites evidence in support of the trial court’s finding that Mr. Young was a negligent participant in the present case. This dissent does not contest that there was evidence whereby the judge or jury could have found Young negligent. However, the majority’s analysis falls short in its failure to recognize that there was evidence presented in the present case whereby the jury could have concluded that Honeycutt was equally, if not more, negligent than Young. Evidence of Honeycutt’s negligence is found where she admitted that she lost control of her vehicle when she hydroplaned across two lanes of traffic and struck the concrete divider. The majority recites that Honeycutt testified that she was driving under the speed limit, when in fact she testified that she was probably driving under the speed limit because it was raining, but that she did not look at her speedometer and was unsure as to whether she was driving over or under the speed limit, only that she thought she was driving more slowly than she would have been on a normal day. Regardless, it was uncontroverted that Honeycutt hydroplaned into the concrete wall where her car came to rest. From this testimony alone, the jury could have concluded that Honeycutt was negligent pursuant to AMI 901(B) and (C) for having failed to maintain control of her car and driving at an unsafe speed. The judge also gave AMI 305(b), which instructed the jury that it was the duty of both persons involved in the occurrence to use ordinary care for the safety of others and their property. Under this instruction, the jury could also have found Honeycutt negligent when she chose to leave her car stopped on the bridge, as Honeycutts own testimony included that her car was not rendered immovable by either accident. This court has reversed trial courts’ granting of new trials as an abuse of discretion when the jury had before it evidence of a substantial or independent nature which, if accepted by the jury, could support the verdict and which was at least the equivalent of any countervailing evidence. See Razorback Cab of Fort Smith, Inc. v. Martin, 313 Ark. 445, 856 S.W.2d 2 (1993); Turrise v. Crane, 303 Ark. 576, 798 S.W.2d 684 (1990); Schrader v. Bell, 301 Ark. 38, 781 S.W.2d 466 (1989); Wilson v. Kobera, 295 Ark. 201, 748 S.W.2d 30 (1988). Such is the instance in the present case. The majority opinion cites cases where this court affirmed the lower court’s granting of a new trial, but these cases simply do not reflect the type of evidence required to reverse. For example, in Bristow v. Flurry, 320 Ark. 51, 894 S.W.2d 894 (1995), the trial judge, unlike in the present case, gave no comparative fault instruction to the jury. There, the only allegations of another’s negligence was Bristow’s own testimony. Moreover, Bris-tow conceded that he was not paying attention to the road as he entered the intersection prior to the collision. In Richardson v. Flanery, 316 Ark. 310, 871 S.W.2d 589 (1994), no independent evidence was presented to show that the defendant Richardson was not solely at fault. The Richardson court said, “We recognized that the only evidence tending to disprove the allegations of negligence against Richardson was her own testimony regarding the cause of the accident.” Last, in Turrise, 303 Ark. 576, 798 S.W.2d 684, the only evidence tending to excuse Turrise’s failure to keep the van on the road was his own testimony of a sudden emergency. Testimony and physical evidence presented showing Turrise was at fault, along with the lack of any independent evidence beyond Turrise’s own testimony to show that he was not at fault gave rise to this court’s determination that the trial court was found not to have abused its discretion in granting a new trial. In my view, the cases relied upon by the majority opinion involve proof that is considerably distinguishable from the evidence before the jury in the present case. Here, evidence of a substantial and independent nature was presented to the jury, which it accepted as evidence that Young and Honeycutt were at least equally negligent. For this reason, I would reverse the trial court’s decision, since I believe it erred in finding the jury’s verdict was clearly against the preponderance of the evidence.