Court Opinion

ID: 9670852
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:27:15.913518+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:36.578380
License: Public Domain

STEINMETZ, J.
(dissenting). The majority orders that the petition for review be dismissed as improvidently granted. The basis for such order is normally that the court will not be able to reach the issue for which we accepted the petition. That is not the case here. While we must review the sufficiency of the evidence, we are required to do so only to decide whether *537the court of appeals improperly supplanted the jury verdict which was upheld by the trial court on motions after verdict.
The court should reach the issue for which we accepted the petition: Did the court of appeals exceed its authority? In my opinion, we also accepted this petition because the court of appeals' decision is in conflict with prior decisions of this court. See sec. 809.62(1)(d), Stats.
An appellate court should only review a jury verdict to determine if there is any credible evidence that would support the verdict. Roach v. Keane, 73 Wis. 2d 524, 536, 243 N.W.2d 508 (1976). The jury heard the following evidence at trial. To begin with, the plaintiff could not clearly explain how the accident happened. He could not remember how many workers were around the accident site during the period immediately preceding his accident or what trades were represented there. He did not remember seeing anyone working in the area.
In addition, the plaintiff could not recall seeing any rust on the pipe hangers. In fact, he stated, "I didn't even pay that much attention to the hanger really to be honest with you."
The plaintiff stated that during his eight-hour shift he did not see anyone working on the pipe that ultimately fell. His other testimony is clearly contradictory to that of several other witnesses. The jury heard the testimony and observed the witnesses and could have disregarded the plaintiffs testimony, considering how weak it was.
Both experts and lay witnesses agreed that Tweet-Garot was not negligent in handling the pipes. One independent witness testified that Tweet-Garot did not engage in dropping pipe from hangers to the floor in a *538free-fall. Another witness denied that any Tweet-Garot employee was in the vicinity of the accident immediately before it occurred because it happened at shift change. A witness told the jury that an investigation found no witnesses who were at the site of the accident at the time it occurred or who knew anything about the accident.
On cross examination, the plaintiffs expert admitted that he had no relevant background from which to reach his conclusions. His credibility was also for the jury to determine.
Witnesses discussed various possible ways of taking the pipe down. No witness was certain as to which method Tweet-Garot in fact used. However, the testimony made it clear that free-falling is one method that was not used. The plaintiffs theory, that a pipe fell hitting the frame the plaintiff was building, assumed that Tweet-Garot used the free-fall method.
The plaintiff argued that Tweet-Garot was negligent because it cut pipes and then left them in their hangers for a period of time before removing them. However, one expert testified that allowing pipes to hang after cutting them is common. The hangers are designed to carry the weight of the pipe and the water and stock in the pipe. There was testimony that cutting the pipe and allowing it to hang in the hangers met industry standards and is commonly done.
The jury found no liability against any defendants, including Tweet-Garot. The trial court approved this verdict on motions after verdict.
The jury's finding should not be overturned if there is any credible evidence that, under any reasonable view, supports the verdict. Coryell v. Conn, 88 Wis. 2d 310, 315, 276 N.W.2d 723 (1979). When the trial court has reviewed the evidence, reviewing courts must be *539especially loathe to interfere. Roach v. Keene, 73 Wis. 2d at 539. This court should decide if the jury verdict is supported by credible evidence. The court of appeals apparently examined the evidence for support for a finding which the jury could have reached but did not. The court improperly reviewed all of the evidence under a "great weight and clear preponderance" standard, rather than examining the record to establish if any credible evidence supported the jury verdict. In so doing, the court of appeals essentially retried the case.
I dissent to the order dismissing the review as improvidently granted and would decide the case on its merits as to the issue in the petition for review granted by this court.