Court Opinion

ID: 9688693
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 18:00:48.117113+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:41.223306
License: Public Domain

Currie, J.
(dissenting). I must respectfully dissent.
Sec. 270.49, Stats., in part provides as follows:
“(1) The trial judge may entertain a motion to be made on his minutes, to set aside a verdict and grant a new trial because of errors in the trial or because the verdict is contrary to law or to the evidence, or for excessive or inadequate damages or in the interest of justice; . . .
“(2) Every order granting a new trial shall specify the grounds therefor. In the absence of such specification, the order shall be deemed granted for error on the trial. No order granting a new trial in the interest of justice shall be valid or *492effective, unless the reasons that prompted the court to make such order are set forth in detail therein. . . .” (Italics supplied. )
In the instant case the learned trial court granted the new trial “in the interest of justice” assigning therefor the two reasons discussed in the majority opinion, viz., that he believed the jury’s verdict with respect to absolving the cabdriver of negligence as being against the weight of the evidence, and because of the grossly inadequate damages found by the jury. The granting of a new trial in the interests of justice is a highly discretionary order, and unless the trial court has made a mistake of law in the reasons assigned for invoking such discretion, there is no abuse of discretion which would permit this court to reverse.
While I agree' with the discussion of the nature of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur contained in the majority opinion I entirely disagree with the conclusion that the trial court holds any different view of it than does this court. Res ipsa loquitur, when proper to be invoked, affords a permissible inference upon which the jury may base a finding of negligence, or the jury may reject the inference and find no negligence. Ryan v. Zweck-Wollenberg Co. (1954), 266 Wis. 630, 64 N. W. (2d) 226.
In the instant case it is undisputed that plaintiff did sustain a compression fracture of two vertebrae, and the jury found that such injury occurred while she was a passenger in the cab. Plaintiff testified that when the cab was passing a truck at great speed on a Milwaukee public street she was thrown up into the top of the cab and immediately felt a terrible pain in her back. The medical testimony was to the effect that a trauma such as described by plaintiff could cause a compression fracture of a vertebra. The cabdriver denied any negli-gént operation on his part or any knowledge of a jolt such as described by plaintiff. It seems to me that this is a proper *493case to apply the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur; and that from the fact that plaintiff was thrown upward from the cab seat so far that the downward fall had sufficient force to fracture the vertebrae gives rise to the permissible inference that the cab must have been negligently operated. It is common experience that cabs carefully operated do not throw passengers upward from their seats with such force in the absence of an emergency requiring a sudden stop on the part of the operator.
The trial judge had an opportunity to view the two principal witnesses, the plaintiff and the cabdriver, and pass upon their credibility. Furthermore, he could have well concluded that the occurrence of the compression fracture of plaintiff’s vertebrae substantiated plaintiff’s version of how the injury occurred, and invoking res ipsa loquitur supplied the proof of negligence. In view of all this he well concluded that the jury’s finding of no negligence was against the weight of the evidence.
The majority opinion in passing on this assigned reason for granting the new trial in the interests of justice seems to apply the same test as it would if the trial court had changed the jury’s answer from “No” to “Yes” upon motions after verdict. I submit that the proper test to be here applied is not whether there was credible evidence to sustain the verdict, but rather was there any reasonable basis for the trial court to conclude that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. If there was any such basis then there was no abuse of discretion even though this court might come to a contrary view as to where the weight of the evidence lay.
The second reason assigned by the trial court in his order for granting a new trial was that the- award of damages to the plaintiff “was grossly inadequateOn this point I quote from the trial judge’s memorandum decision, with which I fully concur, as follows:
*494“This court is of the further opinion that the verdict of the jury is perverse by reason of the total inadequacy of the damages awarded by the jury to Lucille Mayer for her personal injuries, pain and suffering. The amount of the damages awarded by the jury to Lucille Mayer was $1,290. The plaintiff had suffered a compression fracture of the eleventh and twelfth vertebrae. She was hospitalized for a period of three weeks during which time she suffered considerable pain. She was unable to do her housework for a period of at least six months. While, in accordance with the testimony of the orthopedic surgeon, J. Howard Johnson, who was a witness for the defendant, there has been a perfect healing as it relates to the fractures of the eleventh and twelfth vertebrae, nevertheless, she underwent a healing period of three months with an additional three months for convalescence. It is therefore the considered opinion of this court, taking into consideration all the evidence in relation to the injuries sustained by this plaintiff, as well as the depleted purchasing power of the dollar, that the amount of damages awarded to the plaintiff for pain and suffering was grossly inadequate.”
For the reasons hereinbefore stated I do not believe there was any abuse of discretion in ordering a new trial in the interests of justice and I would affirm.