Bell v. Baptist Memorial Hospital Inc.
| Decision Date | 21 September 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. KK-120,KK-120 |
| Citation | 363 So.2d 28 |
| Parties | Clayton A. BELL, as personal representative of the Estate of Melissa Y. Bell, Appellant, v. BAPTIST MEMORIAL HOSPITAL INC., Grace I. Sagcal and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Hugh M. Davenport of Smith, Davenport, Peek & Bloom, Jacksonville, for appellant.
William M. Howell of Howell, Howell, Liles, Braddock & Milton, Jacksonville, for appellees.
At issue here is a trial court order granting appellees a new trial after the jury returned a $450,000 verdict for appellant in a wrongful death action. Appellees admitted liability in the case and the trial was held solely to determine damages. The court granted appellees' motion for a new trial after the rendition of the verdict on grounds that (1) the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence, (2) appellant's trial counsel had made an improper "Golden Rule" argument in his closing statement, and (3) the jury had considered matters outside the record, i. e., the tax consequences of the award, in arriving at their verdict.
Appellant argues that the granting of a new trial was erroneous because the verdict did not "exceed the maximum limit of a reasonable range within which the jury may properly operate." Bould v. Touchette, 349 So.2d 1181 (Fla.1977); Lassitter v. International Union of Operating Engineers, 349 So.2d 622 (Fla.1977). Appellees insist that the broad discretion given to trial judges in granting a new trial should not be disturbed on appeal. Castlewood International Corporation v. LaFleur, 322 So.2d 520 (Fla.1975). We agree with appellant and reverse.
There is no evidence in the record here that the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence. To the contrary the testimony showed that appellant's minor daughter died over a period of nine days after she was negligently injected in the spine with a toxic drug during an outpatient chemotherapy treatment for leukemia. Appellants were told immediately that nothing could be done to prevent their daughter's death. There was ample proof of their mental pain and suffering during the 9-day period that she survived as well as after her death.
With regard to the purported "Golden Rule" argument, the record shows that appellant's counsel's remarks, if indeed they could be classified as "Golden Rule" argument, were timely objected to by appellees' counsel...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Lapidus v. Citizens Federal Sav. and Loan Ass'n
...the court's instructions were followed, see Putnam Lumber Co. v. Berry, 146 Fla. 595, 2 So.2d 133 (1941); Bell v. Baptist Memorial Hospital, Inc., 363 So.2d 28 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978); Leisure Group, Inc. v. Williams, 351 So.2d 374 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977); National Car Rental System, Inc. v. Holland......
-
Bew v. Williams
...in completely changing the sense of the argument. In the recent First District Court of Appeal case of Bell v. Baptist Memorial Hospital, 363 So.2d 28 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978), our sister court reversed the granting of a new trial. The new trial had been granted on three grounds, one of which wa......
-
Baptist Memorial Hospital, Inc. v. Bell
...Justice. This is a petition for writ of certiorari to review a decision of the First District Court of Appeal, reported at 363 So.2d 28 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978), which reversed the trial court's order directing a new trial on the issue of damages. We find conflict with Castlewood International C......
-
Shihadeh v. U.S. & William L. Bonnett, Civil No. 79-232
...the result of the wrongful death of their six-year-old daughter who was crushed by a truck. In the case of Bell v. Baptist Memorial Hospital, Inc., 363 So. 2d 28 (Ct. App. Fla. 1978), $450,000.00 was awarded to the parents for their mental pain and suffering resulting from their minor daugh......