Silva v. Mateo
This appeal involves a tragic accident in which decedent, Anthony Silva, while driving late at night on minimal sleep, rear-ended a very slow-moving tractor trailer on Highway 58 east of Mojave. The impact of the rear-end collision killed decedent instantly and injured his wife and four children. His wife and children[1](plaintiffs) sued the driver of the tractor trailer, Martin Mateo, and the drivers employer, Ortiz Trucking (defendants) for personal injuries and wrongful death. Following a trial in which liability was substantially contested, the jury found defendants 20 percent at fault and decedent 80 percent at fault for the accident. Regarding the issue of damages, however, the jurys findings in the special verdict were perplexing at best. On the personal injury cause of action, the jury disregarded the parties stipulation as to the amount of plaintiffs special damages and inserted other sums (round numbers) instead,[2]while awarding zero ($0) in general damages for those same personal injuries. On the wrongful death cause of action, the jury awarded zero ($0) in special damages and zero ($0) in general damages, even though there was uncontroverted evidence at trial that plaintiffs sustained both general and special damages as a result of decedents death. Neither party requested that the trial court send the jury back for further deliberation to clarify or correct the deficient verdict, and the jury was dismissed. After judgment was entered on the verdict, plaintiffs moved for a new trial based on inadequate damages in the wrongful death cause of action and insufficient evidence to support the allocation of fault. Defendants in turn moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), asking the trial court to modify the judgment by reducing the special damages to the amounts stipulated by the parties. The trial court granted defendants JNOV motion and plaintiffs motion for a new trial of wrongful death damages, but decided against ordering a new trial of liability issues. Defendants appeal, contending among other things that the trial court abused its discretion when it granted a limited new trial as to wrongful death damages only when it was apparent that the jury had reached a compromise verdict. Court agree, and accordingly reverse the limited new trial order and direct the trial court to order a new trial of all issues in the wrongful death cause of action.
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