STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, APPELLANT,
v.
ERROL ROSARIO, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2001-03-23
No. 2D99-2584
PATTERSON, C.J., and FULMER and WHATLEY, JJ., concur.
782 So. 2d 927 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2001) Negative Treatment
Cited by 17 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The Florida Department of Transportation appeals a trial court's grant of a new trial in a personal injury case where a jury found no damages resulted from a rear-end collision. The appellate court reverses, holding that substantial evidence supported the jury's verdict and the trial court abused its discretion in setting it aside.


Holding

The trial court abused its discretion in granting the new trial. The jury's verdict finding no damages as a result of the 1997 accident was not against the manifest weight of the evidence and was supported by substantial competent evidence, including Rosario's preexisting back condition, his lack of candor with physicians and in discovery responses, surveillance video of his work capabilities, and conflicting expert medical opinions.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court abuses its discretion by granting a new trial when the jury's verdict is supported by substantial competent evidence and is not against the manifest weight…

[2] A jury may find no damages resulted from a defendant's negligence when there is conflicting expert testimony regarding causation and evidence of the plaintiff's pre-exist…

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“Based on this substantial competent evidence and the instructions presented to it, the jury could conclude that Rosario suffered no damages as a result of the 1997 accident.”

Establishes that the jury's finding was supported by substantial evidence in the record and was not against the manifest weight of evidence

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

On May 22, 1997, Errol Rosario's vehicle was struck in a rear-end collision caused by a DOT-owned vehicle on State Road 60. Rosario had a history of b…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) appeals from the trial court’s order granting a new trial in this personal injury action. DOT argues that the record supports the jury’s finding of no damages as a result of the accident and, therefore, the trial court erred in overturning the verdict. We agree and reverse.

On May 22, 1997, the appellee, Errol Rosario, was stopped in traffic on State Road 60 in Brandon when his vehicle was struck in the rear in a chain-reaction accident caused by a vehicle owned by DOT. Rosario sued DOT, claiming that he had sustained back injuries as a result of the accident. The trial court granted summary judgment on the issue of liability in Rosario’s favor, and the case went to trial on the issues of causation and damages.

Rosario had suffered from back problems prior to the 1997 accident. He had a laminectomy in 1991 and was treated for back pain in 1993. He again sought treatment for his back after he suffered a serious one-car accident in 1995. In obtaining treatment for the 1997 accident involving DOT, he neglected to inform his treating physicians of the 1995 accident or the 1993 treatment. He also neglected to inform DOT in his answers to interrogatories of twenty-four treatments for back pain by Dr. Keller in 1993-1995. At trial, his explanation was that he had forgotten about the treatments.

Rosario’s doctors testified that Rosario suffered a permanent injury in the 1997 accident. DOT’s expert testified that he did not. DOT showed the jury a surveillance videotape of Rosario lifting and carrying produce in his delivery job. At the close of the evidence, the court granted Rosario a directed verdict as to the reasonableness and necessity of his medical expenses, leaving only the issue of causation for the jury. The jury found that DOT’s negligence was not a legal cause of damage to Rosario and that Rosario did not suffer a permanent injury as a result of the accident. The trial court granted Rosario a new trial on the issue of damages, finding that “it was undisputed that the Plaintiff did suffer some damages from this collision” and that the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Rosario argues that at a minimum he is entitled to an award to reimburse his expenses for diagnostic testing and treatment for the aggravation of his preexisting back condition. He relies on Sparks-Book v. Sports Authority, Inc., 699 So. 2d 767 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997), for the proposition that he was entitled to the cost of diagnostic testing to determine whether the accident caused his injuries notwithstanding the jury’s finding of no causation.

These arguments do not support Rosario’s position. The record reflects that: Rosario had preexisting back problems for which he had surgery and extensive treatments; he showed a lack of candor with his treating physicians and in his answers to interrogatories; a videotape depicted his on-the-job physical capabilities; and expert medical opinions conflicted as to the issue of causation. Based on this substantial competent evidence and the instructions presented to it, the jury could conclude that Rosario suffered no damages as a result of the 1997 accident. Thus, because the jury’s verdict was not against the manifest weight of the evidence, we determine that the trial court abused its discretion in granting the motion for a new trial. See Brown v. Estate of Stuckey, 749 So. 2d 490 (Fla.1999); Smith v. Brown, 525 So. 2d 868 (Fla.1988).

Reversed.

PATTERSON, C.J., and FULMER and WHATLEY, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Fell v. Carlin, 6 So. 3d 119 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009)
    …oting Singer v. Borbua, 497 So. 2d 279, 281 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)); see also Fla. R.App. P. 9.210(b) (2008). Therefore, we do not decide this issue. Were we to consider this issue, however, we would nevertheless affirm. See Dep’t of Transp. v. Rosario, 782 So. 2d 927, 928 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001); Beverly Health & Rehab. Servs., Inc. v. Freeman, 709 So. 2d 549, 551 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998); Plana v. Sainz, 990 So. 2d 554, 557 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008); Martin v. Chapman, 780 So. 2d 929, 930 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001).…
  • Hernandez v. Gonzalez, 124 So. 3d 988 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)
    …ited to pre-exist-ing injuries with extensive treatments, lack of candor with treating physicians, videotapes that show actual physical capabilities, and expert medical opinions which conflict as to causation. See State, Dep’t of Transp. v. Rosario, 782 So. 2d 927, 928 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (affirming a zero jury verdict where the evidence supported the jury’s conclusion that the plaintiff suffered no damages as a result of the accident). The evidence presented at trial regarding the appellants’ claims was suffi…
  • Jordan v. Brown, 855 So. 2d 231 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003)
    …us. Accordingly, we find that the trial court abused its discretion under the Brown test. Brown, 749 So. 2d at 496-98; see also Borino v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., 825 So. 2d 424, 426-27 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Department of Transportation v. Rosario, 782 So. 2d 927 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001); Bailey v. Sympson, 148 So. 2d 729, 731 (Fla. 3d DCA 1963). The trial court’s order granting a new trial is REVERSED. BOOTH AND HAWKES, JJ., CONCUR.…

Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw