Court Opinion

ID: 9650122
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 15:25:25.331374+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:18.523249
License: Public Domain

CAPPY, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. I am distressed by the Majority Opinion. Its holding completely ignores established precedent which has been recently reaffirmed by this Court. See Botek v. Mine Safety Appliance Corp., 531 Pa. 160, 611 A.2d 1174 (1992); Tulewicz v. SEPTA, 529 Pa. 584, 606 A.2d 425 (1991).
The Majority Opinion states that,
the en banc court [which granted remittitur] in this case stated, as clearly as possible in the highly subjective task of translating pain and suffering into monetary figures, its reasons for determining that the jury award was excessive *459and should be remitted____ It granted the remittitur because the verdict was excessive and failed to bear a reasonable relationship to the plaintiffs pain and suffering.
(Majority Opinion at 458, 459.) This statement not only inaccurately characterizes the clarity of the en banc trial court’s “rationale” for granting the remittitur, but also confirms the fact that the trial court applied an incorrect standard.
The Majority correctly asserts, earlier in its Opinion, that the standard to be used in determining whether remittitur should be granted is “whether the award of damages falls within the uncertain limits of fair and reasonable compensation or whether the verdict so shocks the sense of justice as to suggest that the jury was influenced by partiality, prejudice, mistake, or corruption.” (Majority Opinion at 455, citing Carminati v. Philadelphia Transportation Co., 405 Pa. 500, 509, 176 A.2d 440, 445 (1962) (emphasis mine). See also Tulewicz, 529 Pa. at 586, 606 A.2d at 426 (1991). However, the Majority fails to apply this standard. Moreover, the Majority states that “the en banc trial court in this case understandably avoided an assertion that the verdict shocked its sense of justice.” (Majority Opinion at 456.) I agree that the trial court “understandably avoided an assertion that the jury’s verdict shocked its sense of justice,” because such an assertion would be patently unsupportable.
Uncontradicted medical testimony clearly established the following. The bullet that struck Tamika Haines entered just above her eye socket and traveled through her brain. The resultant injury to Tamika included blindness in one eye; severe limitations of simple motor skills including walking, standing, and talking; reduction of mental abilities including vocabulary and short term memory skills from the average ranges into the severely impaired and mentally retarded ranges; and a reduction of total I.Q. score from the thirty-seventh percentile to the first percentile.
Qualitatively, Tamika’s injury has resulted in an extreme loss of inhibition, rendering Tamika highly impulsive. This loss of inhibition, in conjunction with a lack of mature judg*460ment, leaves Tamika very vulnerable generally, and particularly vulnerable sexually. Further, and perhaps most tragically, Tamika does not understand that she is limited physically, mentally and emotionally. She desires the same relationships, . opportunities and responsibilities she enjoyed before the accident, and does not understand why they are no longer available to her. This difference between Tamika’s true abilities and her unrealistic perception of her abilities causes a continual mixture of boredom, anger, sadness, and frustration for Tamika.
The trial judge correctly instructed the jury that pain and suffering includes: physical pain, mental anguish, discomfort, inconvenience, distress, embarrassment, humiliation, disfigurement, and the loss of the ability to enjoy the pleasures of life. (Reproduced Record, Vol. II, p. 594a.) The jury, having considered all of these factors and the reality of the inconvenience and suffering of a life governed by such permanent impairments, awarded what it concluded to be an appropriate assessment of damages as dictated by the law and its collective conscience.1
Unfortunately for Tamika Haines, notwithstanding the fact that the jury’s verdict apparently failed to shock the trial court’s sense of justice, the requirement that it apply this standard did not deter the en banc court from granting remittitur. In listing and acknowledging, but failing to analyze its application to the facts of this case, the trial court en banc gave lip service to the most recent decisions of this Court and to the six criteria established by Superior Court decisions *461which give guidance in granting remittitur. See Stoughton v. Kinzey, 299 Pa.Super. 499, 503, 445 A.2d 1240, 1242 (1982); Kemp v. Philadelphia Transportation Co., 239 Pa.Super. 379, 382, 361 A.2d 362, 364 (1976). In fact, the en banc court stated that in its view “Kemp provided only limited help in dealing with the specifics of this case” (Trial Court Opinion, at 17), thereby further distancing itself from a recognizable standard.
At best, this Court is forced to guess at what standard may have been applied by the en banc court in its grant of remittitur. Regardless of the standard applied, under the instant facts, I simply fail to recognize in what way the damages estimate made by a three member en banc panel of “very experienced civil trial judges,” two members of which were relying solely on a reading of the cold record, could surpass in accuracy the pain, suffering, and inconvenience damages award made by the jury relying on first-hand observations of the evidence and witnesses at trial. The law in Pennsylvania is clear that a court may not declare an award excessive simply because the court, sitting in place of the jury, might have awarded a lesser amount. Tulewicz, and Botek, supra. A jury verdict should not be set aside unless it is so plainly excessive and exorbitant as to shock the court’s sense of justice. Carminati, supra.
I am compelled to strongly disagree with this Court’s holding which affirms a grant of remittitur, not only where the facts fail to support a finding that the jury’s verdict shocks one’s sense of justice, but also where the court which granted the remittitur fails completely to either articulate or apply the appropriate standard of review, specifically that the jury’s verdict did, in fact, shock its sense of justice.
Since I conclude that the jury’s assessment of damages was fair and reasonable under the facts of this case and, as stated above, because it is clear that the lower courts have failed to apply the proper standard of review in granting remittitur, I respectfully but vigorously dissent. Accordingly, I would reverse the Order of the Superior Court, vacate the order of *462the trial court en banc, and reinstate the amount of damages as awarded by the jury.
ZAPPALA and PAPADAKOS, JJ., join in this dissenting opinion.

. Given a life expectancy of 75 years, Tamika, who was injured at the age of 14, had a 61 year expected remaining life span at the time of her injury. (Reproduced Record of Appellants, Volume II, p. 371a.) The jury’s pain and suffering award of $8,000,000 applied over Tamika’s remaining expected life span averages $131,147.54/year, less attorney’s fees and costs.
The trial court’s remittitur resulted in a $3,000,000 total reduction in the pain and suffering award, which reduction when applied over Tamika’s expected remaining life span averages $49,180.33/year.
The remitted pain and suffering award left Tamika with a total award of $5,000,000, which when applied over Tamika’s expected remaining life span averages $81,967.21/year less attorney's fees and costs.