Court Opinion

ID: 9754209
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 19:50:23.313104+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:50.708184
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Justice Musmanno:
On May 8, 1948, a motor bus belonging to the defendant partnership Bamford pothers, while proceeding on a declivitous roadway in the Bprough of Mun-*396hall, Allegheny County, broke out of control, dashed down the road way at a high rate of speed, crashed into an embankment as a result of the driver’s attempt to stop it, jolted over on its side, righted itself again and finally came to a halt, to the concomitant consternation of all the passengers and to the injury of some. Among the injured was one Joseph Y. Takac, plaintiff in this case.
He brought suit against the defendants and obtained a jury’s verdict in the sum of $3,000, which verdict, over his motion for a new trial on the ground of inadequacy, was affirmed by the lower Court.
The verdict of the jury established that the bus-owner was negligent and it established further that the plaintiff was injured as the result of that negligence. The evidence is unchallenged that the plaintiff, with the exception of one day’s attendance at his job' (in order to avoid a technical lay-off) was absent from his employment from May 8, 1948, to January 9, 1950. There is no evidence in the record that he was physically able to work during that period. A payroll clerk for the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company, the plaintiff’s employer, testified that Takac’s wages amounted to $2,600 a year.
X-rays of the plaintiff’s back revealed fractures of the lumbar transverse processes on the right side with muscle'spasm of the erector spinae muscles. Dr. Samuel J. Rosen, who saw the plaintiff on April 18, 1949, testified that' an “examination of the motions . of the back showed at that time that there was approximately fifty percent restriction or limitation of motion, of all motions in the lumbar spine, that is forward or backward bending and side bending and radiation.” The doctor further 'testified: “Q. Doctor,'- did the fracture of these transverse processes result in any injury by the fractures themselves? Did they result iii any injury to any other parts in the neighborhood? A. Well, any *397force sufficient to produce fracture of any part of the vertebra is certainly sufficient to damage the supporting structures which are attached to those bones. Q. What are those supporting structures? A. Ligaments and muscles.” This testimony was at first stricken from the record but the doctor’s further answers later reinstated it. The doctor also testified that the plaintiff would have a permanent partial disability.
Dr. Shakari T. Ilyas, the plaintiff’s personal physician, testified that over a period of two years he administered some 110 treatments to the plaintiff, the treatments consisting of diathermy, heat and massage. He also prescribed for the plaintiff lumbo-sacral braces, of which the plaintiff consumed three prior to the date of trial.
The plaintiff testified that he experienced much pain as the result of his injuries and that, although he was eager to return to his job, — because of economic necessity — and attempted on several occasions to do so, he was physically unable to perform the work assigned him. He had been employed at the Carnegie-Illinois plant for twelve years prior to the accident, working at the open hearth, in the structural rolling mills and as a hooker (chaining beams.) At times he also did clerical work, referred to as “slip maker.”
For four months following the- accident Takac’s condition was such that he was unable to straighten up and he had to walk in a stooped position. The testimony at the trial indicated that although only 37 years of age he now tires easily, is unable to do heavy work, cannot walk reasonable distances, has difficulty in sleeping because of the pain in his back, and cannot even do the usual chores expected of a man around the house. Athletically inclined before the accident, he cannot now engage in such mild exercises as bowling and dancing. The muscular and nerve disorganization of his back is such that he cannot even sit comfortably *398in a movie theatre for the entire showing of a picture.
The doctor called by the defendant testified that he saw the plaintiff for the first time on October 24, 1949, and in less than a half-hour’s examination concluded that the plaintiff had recovered fully from his original injuries. Even if this testimony were to be accepted at full face value, it would in no way negative the testimony as to the plaintiff’s disabilities and incapacities prior to October 24, 1949.
Dr. U. A. Carpenter, the physician just referred to, was the only witness called by the defendant. Thus all the evidence introduced by the plaintiff as to his physical condition before October 24, 1949, and the evidence introduced as to time lost from work, stand uncontroverted. Of course, if the jury saw fit to do so, it could have disbelieved all the testimony presented in behalf of the plaintiff and have returned a verdict outrightly for the defendant; but once it proclaimed in favor of the plaintiff and thus held the defendant responsible for the plaintiff’s losses, it could not reject the mathematical losses proved on behalf of the person for whom they had so categorically decided.
The jury could have turned a deaf ear to the testimony on pain, suffering and inconvenience endured by Joseph Takac and to be further endured by him, but it could not arbitrarily discard the evidence of actual financial loss from his pocket — in the absence of anything to the contrary from the witness stand.
A jury may distrust witnesses but it cannot ignore arithmetic. Once it acknowledges the digits of 2 and 2, it must accept the total of 4. By its verdict the jury established the defendant’s negligence and the plaintiff’s disability as the result of that negligence. The plaintiff’s wages of $2600 per year were unquestioned, his absence of work for 21 months was undenied. He, therefore, in wages alone lost $4500. His medical expenses totaled $682.75. His out-and-out financial im*399pairment up to the time of the trial, allowing nothing for pain, suffering and inconvenience (which, in itself, was not inconsiderable and must be conceded from the evidence) was $5232.75. How, in the face of those established figures can the sum of $3,000 be accepted? Unless we are to put a stamp of approval on a verdict which defies the simplest blackboard problem in addition, a new trial here is imperative. This verdict should not be allowed to stand any more than a verdict which would declare a party litigant owner of a disputed property but would deny him the right to enter that property.
Our Supreme and Superior Court reports abound with decisions to the effect that where a verdict is so grossly excessive as to shock our sense of justice, the verdict must be reduced or a new trial ordered. If we can be shocked by an excessive verdict, why can we not be shocked by an obviously inadequate verdict? If too much causes a revulsion, why shouldn’t too little awaken an equal abhorrence? If we recoil from a verdict which is bloated, why should we be indifferent to a verdict which is gaunt?
Why should an overfull larder shock our conscience more than an empty or half-full one? Why should an extra loaf of bread be more disturbing than a desiccated crust?
If we take a jury’s verdict as an impeccable and infallible judgment,. then it should not be disturbed whether an appellate court believes the amount of the verdict is too plentiful or too meager. But if an appellate court may, and it does, substitute its judgment for the jury’s judgment when the jury overfills the well, why should it decline to intervene when the jury empties the well? If a jury can be corrected when it overstocks the pantry, why should the correcting measure be withheld when the jury strips the pantry bare?
*400The jury system is the best system devised in all the centuries for the ascertainment of justice between man and man. Being human, of course, it is subject to error just as judges may err also. But the greatest virtue of our whole system of government, not only in the administration of justice, but in every phase of our democratic procedure, is the check and balance device whereby no person or group of persons may have autocratic or absolute power unreviewable by anyone else. Thus, to direct a new trial because of error committed by a jury is not to discredit or even criticize the jury involved and certainly not to belittle the jury system in general. It is simply the putting into effect of the genius of our check-and-balance system.
In view of all these considerations, I would reverse the judgment of the lower Court and order a new trial.