Court Opinion

ID: 9571660
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:34:02.693571+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:30:46.921579
License: Public Domain

HANSON, Judge
(dissenting).
In accordance with the contract of insurance and the instructions of the court the verdict in this case could not exceed the lesser of:
(1) The reasonable cost of repair, or
(2) The difference between the fair market value of the mobile home before the loss and its value immediately after the loss.
The burden was on plaintiff to prove the amount of his damages by competent evidence with reasonable certainty. According to the testimony of plaintiff's own witness the cost of repairing the trailer was $944.65. This amount was less than any evidence based on before and after valuations. In his brief plaintiff concedes the jury would have been required to return a verdict based on the cost of repair except that having viewed the damaged mobile home for themselves the first hand view became evidence, which they could consider in arriving at their verdict.
*104A view by the jury is not considered to be evidence in this jurisdiction and does not justify a jury verdict based thereon. The verdict of $1,200 is not otherwise supported by the record and in my opinion the judgment in this case should be modified down to the amount plaintiff's own witnesses said it would cost to repair the damaged mobile home.