Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury case and its proceedings.)
It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this automobile accident case could just as easily involve the California Highway Patrol or the law enforcement divisions of any local municipality, such as Roseville, El Dorado Hills, West Sacramento, or Elk Grove.
In its case in chief, the City presented testimony of its medical experts, Christine Jones, M.D, Barry Stein, M.D., and David Hernandez, M.D. The City’s accident reconstructionist, Scott Black, also testified. Additionally, defendant City played for the jury a “sub rosa” videotape of plaintiff Sandra White. The defendant City, however, did not call its designated experts David Hall (economist), Gene Perry (life care planner), or Charles Small, Ph.D. (neuropsychologist).
The jury in this matter returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the plaintiff, Sandra White, in the amount of $6,872,001.00, $426,636.00 for past economic loss and $6,445,365.00 for future economic loss. For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
LEGAL STANDARD FOR A JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT
A Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict (“JNOV”) challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence, essentially asking whether the evidence was sufficient to prove the claims or defenses asserted and now embodied in the jury’s verdict. See Hauter v. Zogarts (1975) 14 Cal.3d 104; Clemmer v. Harford Ins. Co. (1978) 22 Cal.3d 865. For purposes of a JNOV, all evidence supporting the verdict is presumed true, making the issue whether the facts, when presumed true, constitute a prima facie case or defense as a matter of law. Moore v. San Francisco (1970) 5 Cal.App.3d 728; Fountain Valley Chateau Blanc Homeowner’s Ass’n v. Dept. of Veterans Affairs (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 743.
The trial judge’s power to grant a judgment notwithstanding the verdict is identical to his power to grant a directed verdict. The trial judge cannot weigh the evidence, or judge the credibility of witnesses. If the evidence is conflicting or if several reasonable inferences may be drawn, the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict should be denied. A motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict of a jury may properly be granted only if it appears from the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the party securing the verdict, that there is no substantial evidence to support the verdict. If there is any substantial evidence, or reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, in support of the verdict, the motion should be denied. Hauter, 14 Cal.3d at 110 (citing Jones v. Evans (1970) 4 Cal.App.3d 115; Gordon v. Strawther Enterprises, Inc. (1969) 273 Cal.App.2d 504; Quintal v. Laurel Grove Hospital (1964) 62 Cal.2d 154, Knight v. Contracting Engineers Co. (1961) 194 Cal.App.2d 435; McCown v. Spencer (1970) 8 Cal.App.3d 216; Hozz v. Fielder (1959) 167 Cal.App.2d 197; Brandenburg v. Pac, Gas & Elec. Co. (1946) 28 Cal.2d 282). (See Part 5 of 10.)
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.