The following blog entry is written from a defendant’s position as trial approaches. Reviewing this kind of briefing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this automobile accident/personal injury case and its proceedings.)
LEGAL DISCUSSION
THE COURT HAS A DUTY TO SET ASIDE AN EXCESSIVE VERDICT UNSUPPORTED BY THE EVIDENCE.
A New Trial Should Be Granted Because The Award for Past and Future Pain and Suffering by the Jury Was Unsupported by the Evidence. For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
The Court has authority and the power in this case to reweigh the evidence independently from that of the jury to determine whether the past pain and suffering and future pain and suffering award was excessive.
Defendant maintains that the amounts award by the jury for past and future noneconomic damages is simply unsupported by the evidence. To that end, the evidence at trial demonstrated that plaintiff suffered only soft tissue injuries. Plaintiff testified at trial that plaintiff’s CT scans and x-rays taken at the hospital following the car accident were all negative.
None of plaintiff’s doctors testified at trial that plaintiff required surgery or that he would require surgery in the future. Plaintiff’s past medical bills were only $15,221 and there was no evidence presented at trial to suggest that plaintiff suffered enduring, severe injuries or pain as a result of the accident.
In fact the evidence was to the contrary. After being treated and released at University Hospital the day of the accident on June 12, 2004, plaintiff waited almost a month before receiving additional treatment. At that time, he treated at Occupational Medical Center on July 14, 2004.
Plaintiff then waited more than two additional months to seek further medical treatment, when he presented to orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Black on October 12, 2004, with complaints of pain in the lumbar spine, right buttock which radiated to the right foot, as well as pain in the left thigh and groin. He was referred to physical therapy. (See Part 6 of 6.)
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.