Personal Injury Law

Multi-Car Collision Leaves Sacramento Woman With Brain Damage, Part 4 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.)

STANDARD FOR A JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTADING THE VERDICT

A Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict (hereinafter "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, such as the one in this brain injury case. 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.

Full post as published by Sacramento Injury Lawyer Blog on January 12, 2010 (boomark / email).