Court Opinion

ID: 9640516
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:07:32.449895+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:30.511956
License: Public Domain

*298GRANT, Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur with the affirmance by the majority, but I dissent on the requirement of a remittitur.
There are no scales to convert physical pain and mental anguish to monetary amounts. There is no formula for finding the value that should be awarded for enduring physical pain and mental anguish. Because personal injury damages are unliq-uidated and not capable of measurement by any certain standard, the jury has large discretion in fixing the amount of the award. Phillips Petroleum Company v. Burkett, 337 S.W.2d 856 (Tex.Civ.App-Fort Worth 1960, writ ref’d n.r.e.).
Although the jury award for future pain and suffering in the present case seems large, it shrinks considerably when considering that Capps was thirty-two years of age at the time of the trial and had a life expectancy of forty-one years. This brings the award to less than $20,000 for future pain and mental anguish. The evidence indicates that Capps’ knee hurt constantly and that this pain was likely to continue for the rest of his life.
The evidence not only indicates that the nature of his injury is painful, but that it is also debilitating to the extent that he will never be able to engage in the type of physical activity that had played such an important part in his life. According to the evidence, Capps was a very physical person not only in his work, but in his leisure activities with his family. He enjoyed gardening, making home improvements, participating in active games with his children and working with horses and cows. The limitation on his ability to do these things would naturally result in mental anguish. The probability that he will have to have a complete artificial knee replacement in the future is another source of mental anguish.
The measure of damages for pain and suffering is a matter of opinion of the factfinder, and courts in most instances have been reluctant to disturb the findings of a court or jury on such matters where there is any evidence to support it. George C. Vaughan & Sons v. Dyess, 323 S.W.2d 261 (Tex.Civ.App.-Texarkana 1959, writ dism’d). The jury found that Capps should be compensated $18,293 a year for his future pain and mental anguish. The majority opinion would compensate him $10,244 a year for his future pain and mental anguish. I am not prepared to say that there was insufficient evidence for the jury to have made this award for future physical pain and mental anguish.