STEVEN J. PERENIC AND UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION, APPELLANTS,
v.
DOROTHY J. CASTELLI AND FRANK T. CASTELLI, HER HUSBAND, APPELLEES
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.
The appellate court affirmed the trial court's order granting a new trial on damages, finding the jury's award was grossly inadequate and shocked the conscience of the court.
The appellate court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting a new trial on damages, as the jury's verdict was grossly inadequate and against the manifest weight of the evidence.
[1] A trial court may grant a new trial when a jury verdict is so grossly inadequate that it shocks the conscience of the court.
[2] A jury verdict is inadequate if a jury of reasonable persons could not have rendered such a verdict.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA jury awarded $2,000 to each plaintiff in a car collision case where the defendant was found 100% at fault. The trial court granted a new trial on da…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Adequacy Of Verdict cases and more on FLexlaw
MILLER, ROBERT P., Associate Judge.
In this appeal Appellant, defendant below, seeks review of the trial court’s order granting a new trial on the issue of damages.
The case below involved a suit for damages resulting from a collision between the respective parties’ motor vehicles. The jury found the Appellant, Perenic, 100% at fault and granted a verdict in the amount of $2,000.00 to the injured Appellee, Dorothy J. Castelli, and a verdict in the amount of $2,000.00 for her husband on his derivative claim. The Order Granting a New Trial reads in part as follows:
“ORDER GRANTING NEW TRIAL
First, as to the issue of liability, it is clear from the testimony taken at trial and the verdict of the jury that the issue of liability should not be disturbed as it is supported by the greater weight of the evidence.
Secondly, the verdict is so grossly inadequate in the award of damages in the amount of $2,000 to Plaintiff, DOROTHY J. CASTELLI and $2,000 to the Plaintiff, FRANK T. CASTELLI, that it shocks the conscience of the Court. The evidence shows that the Plaintiff, DOROTHY J. CASTELLI, was physically ill and there was testimony from Dr. Raul Montes giving the Plaintiff, DOROTHY J. CASTEL-LI 3% to 5% permanent disability. Dr. James Carter was of the opinion, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that it would take six months to one year from June 8, 1976, before the Plaintiff, DOROTHY J. CASTELLI, would recover. The Court finds from the greater weight of the evidence that the Plaintiff, DOROTHY J. CASTELLI, received an acute cervicle (sic) lumbar strain which, as of the date of the trial, had not reached maximum medical improvement. The Court finds that the Plaintiff, DOROTHY J, CASTELLI, had a disease known as scleroderma which was not caused by the accident. However, according to the medical testimony, sometimes trauma seems to increase the symptomatology due to the disease and it is also a well known fact that people with collagen disease do not tolerate trauma very well. The evidence shows that the Plaintiff, DOROTHY J. CASTELLI, did receive medical attention while in Jess Parrish Memorial Hospital. In other words, the amount of the verdict shocks the judicial conscience and is against the manifest weight of the evidence on the issue of damages.
Our Supreme Court in Griffis v. Hill, 230 So. 2d 143 (S.C.Fla.1969) laid down the test of the adequacy of a verdict as follows: ‘The test to be applied in determining the adequacy of a verdict is whether a jury of reasonable men could have rendered the verdict.’ In view of the uncon- tradicted evidence pertaining to damages in this record, this Court holds that the verdict of the jury is clearly and grossly inadequate. Borandi vs. St. Anthony’s Hospital, Inc., 291 So. 2d 54.”
This court is well aware that a trial judge is accorded a broad discretion in such matters. See Cloud v. Fallis, 110 So. 2d 669 (Fla.1959). Nevertheless such an order may be reviewed on the record for the purpose of ascertaining whether the exercise of judicial discretion implicit in the order has been abused. If this abuse of discretion is apparent from the record then the order of the trial judge in an appropriate appellate proceeding may be, and should be, set aside. Russo v. Clark, 147 So. 2d 1 (Fla.1962).
We have reviewed the record, and the evidence is conflicting as to the extent of Appellee’s injuries and damages. Also, matters involving the credibility of Appel-lee were considered by the jury. One thing is certain, Appellee, Mrs. Castelli, suffers from scleroderma, a serious and incurable disease involving the connective tissues. It is further certain that this disease was not caused by the accident. The medical expense relating to the accident was approximately $1,000.00.
Three doctors testified at the trial and their testimony conflicted as to material facts. Dr. Montes, an orthopedic surgeon who had seen her on four occasions, testified she was permanently injured. Dr. Chastain, an internist and her treating physician since 1969, testified she was not permanently injured as a result of the accident. Dr. Carter, another orthopedic surgeon who examined Mrs. Castelli on one occasion, said he thought she would be all right, as far as her injuries in the accident were concerned, in six to twelve months.
It is apparent from the trial judge’s order that he chose to believe Dr. Montes over Dr. Chastain; that he weighed the evidence and found that the greater weight of the evidence supported many facts in favor of Appellee; and that he found the evidence on damages to be “uncontradicted.”
We find from the record that the facts found by the lower court were not proven by “uncontradicted” evidence, and the finding by the lower court in that regard is erroneous. The weight to be given conflicting evidence, especially where the credibility of the witnesses is an issue, is a question for the jury and never one for the court. To allow the court to invade this province of the jury would violate the right to a jury trial. The only exception to this rule should be where the verdict is contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. This by definition can exist only where the evidence is clear, obvious, and indisputable. The evidence in this case does not meet that criteria.
We find that the record of the trial below clearly shows that the evidence is conflicting as to damages and that the verdict was not against the manifest weight of the evidence and that therefore a clear showing of abuse of the trial court’s discretion has been made by Appellant.
For the reasons stated, the Order Granting New Trial is reversed, and this cause is remanded with direction to enter judgment in accordance with the jury verdict.
REVERSED and REMANDED with direction.
ALDERMAN, C. J., concurs.
CROSS, J., dissents, without opinion.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (23 total)
-
Chirogianis v. Anderson, 401 So. 2d 1322 (Fla. 1981)…district court reweighed and reevaluated the evidence and then set aside the verdict because of “contradicted” evidence. Anderson v. Chirogianis, 384 So. 2d 1289 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). If true, there would have been conflict with Perenic v. Castelli, 353 So. 2d 1190 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), cert. denied, 359 So. 2d 1211 (Fla. 1978), and Schmidt v. Tracey, 150 So. 2d 275 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963), cert. denied, 159 So. 2d 645 (Fla. 1964). A closer review of the record, however, discloses that the district court followed th…
-
Hawk v. Seaboard Sys. R.R., Inc., 547 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)…l basis on which this conclusion can be affirmed. For a verdict to be found against the manifest weight of the evidence, the evidence must be “clear, obvious and indisputable.” McNair v. Davis, 518 So. 2d 416 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Perenic v. Castelli, 353 So. 2d 1190 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), cert. denied, 359 So. 2d 1211 (Fla. 1978). Where the evidence is conflicting, the weight to be given to that evidence is in the province of the jury and, as the fourth district noted in Perenic, “[t]o allow the court to invade t…
-
Marjane McNAIR v. Donato A. Davis, 518 So. 2d 416 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988)…impanel itself as a “seventh juror with veto power.” See Wackenhut Corp. v. Canty, 359 So. 2d 430, 437 (Fla.1978). A verdict is against the manifest weight of the evidence where the evidence “is clear, obvious and indisputable.” Perenic v. Castelli, 353 So. 2d 1190 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), cert. denied, 359 So. 2d 1211 (Fla.1978). The jury in the instant case found that appellee did not sustain a permanent injury as a result of the 1985 accident. No “reasonable man” could successfully argue that the evidence in th…
Previewing 3 of 23 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Cloud v. Fallis, 110 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 1959)
- Griffis v. Hill, 230 So. 2d 143 (Fla. 1969)
- Russo v. Nolan Clark, 147 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1962)
- Borandi v. ST. Anthony's Hosp., Inc., 291 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)