Davis by Davis v. Jellico Community Hosp. Inc.

• Decision Date: 23 August 1990
• Docket Number: No. 89-5718,89-5718
• Citation: 912 F.2d 129
• Parties: Jackie DAVIS, by Next Friend, Edward DAVIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JELLICO COMMUNITY HOSPITAL INC.; William Stafford, M.D., Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 129

912 F.2d 129

17 Fed.R.Serv.3d 523

Jackie DAVIS, by Next Friend, Edward DAVIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JELLICO COMMUNITY HOSPITAL INC.; William Stafford, M.D.,

Defendants-Appellants.

No. 89-5718.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued May 3, 1990.

Decided Aug. 23, 1990.

Fredrich H. Thomforde, Jr. (argued), McCampbell & Young, J.D. Lee, Knoxville, Tenn., for Jackie Davis, by next friend, Edward Davis.

Margaret G. Klein, James H. London, Hogin, London & Montgomery, Knoxville, Tenn., for Jellico Community Hosp., Inc.

James G. O'Kane, Jr. (argued), Poore, Cox, Baker, Ray & Byrne, Knoxville, for William Stafford, M.D.

Before MARTIN and BOGGS, Circuit Judges; and HACKETT, District Judge. ^*

BOYCE F. MARTIN, Jr., Circuit Judge.

The defendants, Jellico Community Hospital and Dr. William Stafford, appeal a jury verdict of $2,500,000 for the plaintiff, Jackie Davis, in this Tennessee diversity action for medical malpractice. Specifically, the defendants contend that the district court incorrectly applied Rules 59 and 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure by upholding the jury verdict in light of Davis's death thirty-three days after the verdict was rendered and after judgment was entered. We affirm.

Jackie Davis, a 24-year-old Kentucky resident, received a head injury in a one-car automobile accident on November 13, 1986. Between November 13, 1986 and November 26, 1986, he complained of headaches and was treated by Dr. William Stafford and Dr. Robert Miller in the emergency room of the Jellico Community Hospital in Jellico, Tennessee. On November 26, 1986, Davis suffered a seizure, became unresponsive, and was again taken to Jellico Community Hospital from which he was transferred to the University of Tennessee Hospital in Knoxville. There, Dr. A.B. Klieforth, a neurosurgeon, determined that Davis was suffering from a subdural hematoma, a collection of blood within his skull. Klieforth performed surgery on Davis on November 27, 1986 to relieve the pressure on Davis's brain. From November 27, 1986 through the conclusion of the trial, Davis remained in a coma in a persistent vegetative state as a result of permanent brain damage.

On April 1, 1987, Davis was moved from the Knoxville hospital and taken to Cardinal Hill Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky where he remained through April 17, 1987. He was then hospitalized at the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington for seven days. Thereafter, he was cared for at home by his family.

Davis brought this medical malpractice diversity suit against the defendants, all Tennesseans, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Davis sued Dr. Stafford for negligence in his individual capacity as Davis's physician and the Jellico Community Hospital, Inc. in its capacity as the employer of both Dr. Stafford and Dr. Miller, for whose negligence the hospital was alleged to be vicariously liable. Davis maintained that the defendants were liable because a timely diagnosis of a subdural hematoma was not made and that the failure to diagnose that medical condition was the proximate cause of Davis's permanent brain damage.

The case was tried before a jury from December 8, 1988 through December 19, 1988. On December 19, 1988, the jury returned a verdict in the amount of $2,500,000. The district court entered a final judgment against the defendants on December 19, 1988. Within ten days of the entry of final judgment, the defendants filed a pleading entitled, "Defendants' Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict or, in the Alternative, for New Trial or, in the Alternative, for Remittitur." Davis died of cardiac arrest in the Jellico Community Hospital on January 21, 1989, thirty-three days after the verdict. On January 23, 1989, the defendants amended their post-trial motion and sought a new trial on damages because of Davis's death. On April 28, 1989, the district court denied the defendants' various post-trial motions.

In rejecting the defendants' Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b) motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the district court held that the evidence supported the verdict and rejected the defendants' claims that Davis's counsel engaged in any misconduct through inflammatory statements or improper use of charts during argument to the jury. As noted, the court had given a limiting instruction to the jury on the use of the chart. The court also declined to grant a new trial because the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence.

As to the chief issue on appeal, the court held that Davis's post-judgment death was not a situation calling for the exercise of Fed.R.Civ.P. 60 or Fed.R.Civ.P. 59 post-trial relief. The district court correctly stated that the standard for considering Rule 59 motions for new trials is a federal standard, not a state standard. Arms v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 731 F.2d 1245, 1248 n. 2 (6th Cir.1984); see also Judge Shackelford Miller's opinion in Still v. Townsend, 311 F.2d 23, 24 (6th Cir.1962) (holding that Rule 60(b)(2) is controlled by federal, not state, law). Here, the district court also held that the grant of defendants' motion was not warranted because the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence. The district court also denied the defendants' alternative motion for a remittitur. The district court held that under our standard for remittitur, the verdict was not larger than the maximum amount which could reasonably have been found to be compensatory for Davis's loss. Manning v. Altec, 488 F.2d 127, 132 (6th Cir.1973).

The district court also found that the evidence regarding Davis's potential life span was not false--thus no relief under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60 was warranted. The district court noted that at trial, the defendants failed to rebut the plaintiff's evidence that Davis would have a normal life span. Moreover, the district court instructed the jury that Davis might die sooner than his expected life span. In rejecting the defendants' Rule 59 and Rule 60 arguments, the district court also relied on Boyd v. Bulala, 672 F.Supp. 915, 922 (W.D.Va.1987), aff'd in part, rev'd in part on grounds unrelated to issues in this case, certifying questions to the Supreme Court of Virginia, 877 F.2d 1191 (4th Cir.1989), on certified questions, 239 Va. 218, 389 S.E.2d 670 (1990), on remand to Fourth Circuit, 905 F.2d 764 (4th Cir.1990), where Judge Michael held that a post-judgment death did not affect a jury verdict under an interpretation of Virginia state tort law and federal procedure law despite the defendant's challenge to the verdict under Rules 59 and 60.

The main issue on appeal is whether the defendants are entitled to a new trial or relief from a final judgment under Rules 59 or 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as a result of Jackie Davis's death while the case was still pending before the district court on post-trial motions, but after the entry of final judgment.

Rule 59 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides, in pertinent part:

(a) Grounds. A new trial may be granted to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues (1) in an action in which there has been a trial by jury, for any of the reasons for which new trials have heretofore been granted in actions at law in the courts of the United States; and (2) in an action tried without a jury, for any of the reasons for which rehearings have heretofore been granted in suits in equity in the courts of the United States. On a motion for a new trial in an action tried without a jury, the court may open the judgment if one has been entered, take additional testimony, amend findings of fact and conclusions of law or make new findings and conclusions, and direct the entry of a new judgment.

(e) Motion to Alter or Amend a Judgment. A motion to alter or amend the judgment shall be served not later than 10 days after entry of the judgment.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(a) and (e).

Rule 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides, in pertinent part:

(b) Mistakes; Inadvertence; Excusable Neglect; Newly Discovered Evidence; Fraud, etc. On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or a party's legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 59(b); (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b). Only Rule 60(b)(2) and Rule 60(b)(6) apply to this case.

The decision to grant or deny motions for a new trial under Rule 59 or motions under Rule 60(b) is discretionary with the district court. Logan v. Dayton Hudson Corp., 865 F.2d 789, 790 (6th Cir.1989) (Rule 59 motion for new trial); Bank of Montreal v. Olafsson, 648 F.2d 1078, 1079 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1084, 102 S.Ct. 641, 70 L.Ed.2d 619 (1981) (Rule 60(b) motions). Consequently, we review whether the district court abused its discretion. Logan, 865 F.2d at 790; Olafsson, 648 F.2d at 1079. "Abuse of discretion is defined as a definite and firm conviction that the trial court committed a clear error of judgment." Logan, 865 F.2d at 790. The defendants here have not met this burden.

The defendants first argue that the district court committed an error of law by holding that it did not possess the power to reopen the proof in this action on the issue of damages. This argument is wholly meritless. Nowhere in the district court's opinion is...