Personal Injury Law

City Sued After Cop Collides With (Now) Brain-Damaged Sacramento Woman, Part 5 of 9

By Moseley Collins, Esq.

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this brain injury/car accident case and its proceedings.)

Further, a judgment notwithstanding the verdict can be sustained only when it can be said as a matter of law that no other reasonable conclusion is legally deducible from the evidence, and that any other holding would be so lacking in evidentiary support that the reviewing court would be compelled to reverse it, or the trial court would be compelled to set it aside as a matter of law. Moore v. San Francisco (1970) 5 Cal. App. 3d 728, 733-734 (referencing Palmer v. Agid (1959) 171 Cal.App.2d 271). A JNOV motion must be denied if substantial evidence "supports the verdict." Begnal v. Canfield Assocs., Inc. (2000) 78 Cal.App.4th 66; Campbell v. Cal-Gard Surety Svs., Inc. (1998) Cal.App.4th 563; Palm Medical Group, Inc. v. State Comp. Ins. Fund (2008) 161 Cal. App. 4th 206, 218.

In the instant case, defendant erroneously argues that a miscarriage of justice has occurred in this brain injury case, without any adequate justification. Defendant suggests that no evidence was presented that would be of "solid value" or that would "reasonably inspire confidence" to support the verdict; however, this contention is unsupported and misleading.

In fact, defendant provides no valid argument to support this conclusion and instead urges this Court to weigh the evidence and make credibility determinations regarding specific witnesses, which is improper. As such, Plaintiffs respectfully request this Court to deny Defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

Full post as published by Sacramento Injury Lawyer Blog on January 15, 2010 (boomark / email).