Broderick v. Watts
| Decision Date | 01 September 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-399,90-399 |
| Citation | 136 N.H. 153,614 A.2d 600 |
| Parties | Edward BRODERICK, Administrator of the Estates of Francis W. Defrancesco, Rita Y. Defrancesco, and Brian S. Defrancesco v. Ida WATTS. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
Thomas E. Craig P.A., Manchester (H. Nina Bernard, on the brief and orally), for plaintiff.
Yakovakis, McDonough & Lindh, Manchester (James S. Yakovakis on the brief and orally), for defendant.
These wrongful death actions arose from a fire which took the lives of Francis, Rita, and Brian DeFrancesco. The fire occurred in a single family residential house owned by Ida Watts, the defendant, and leased to the decedents. The administrator for the estates of the decedents, Edward Broderick, brought suit in the Superior Court (O'Neill, J.), and after a trial, the jury returned a verdict for the defendant. The plaintiff appeals alleging the following: (1) the trial court erred in denying the plaintiff's motion for a directed verdict in favor of Brian DeFrancesco; (2) the trial court erred in denying the plaintiff's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and to set aside the verdict as against the weight of the evidence with regard to Brian DeFrancesco; (3) the verdict for the defendant was the product of plain mistake, passion, partiality, or corruption; (4) the trial court's charge to the jury and responses to questions from the jury during their deliberations misled and confused the jury so as to render the verdict erroneous; and (5) the defendant's counsel made insinuations during cross-examination of witnesses for the plaintiff and remarks during closing argument that were improper and constituted reversible error. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
In August 1985, the DeFrancescos moved into a single family residence in Derry which they leased from the defendant. On the evening of November 2, 1985, the DeFrancescos had a Halloween party at their home. Several candles were used to provide lighting and effect. Some were on tables and at least one was located in a sconce attached to a wall. Sometime in the early morning of November 3, a fire erupted. The fire started in the den, which was located at the front left-hand corner of the house on the first floor. Thirteen-year-old Brian DeFrancesco and his friend, Edward Robitaille, were asleep in the living room, which was on the first floor in the front right-hand corner of the house. Brian's parents, Rita and Francis, were also asleep on the first floor, in a bedroom in the rear right-hand corner of the house. According to the fire investigators, the most likely cause of the fire was a candle that was left burning after the party.
Thirteen-year-old Brian DeFrancesco and his parents, Francis and Rita DeFrancesco, lost their lives in the fire. Edward Robitaille was the only person inside the house to survive. Edward Broderick, administrator of the estates of Francis, Rita, and Brian DeFrancesco, brought three actions for wrongful death against their landlord, Ida Watts, on behalf of their estates. The plaintiff claimed that Ida Watts violated her statutory duty of care imposed under RSA 153:10-a, II-a, by failing to properly install and maintain smoke detectors in her rental premises. The defendant denied that she was negligent and raised the issue of comparative negligence on the part of the decedents.
At trial, after the conclusion of the defendant's evidence, the plaintiff moved for a directed verdict in favor of the estate of Brian DeFrancesco. The trial court denied the motion. After closing arguments and the judge's jury charge, the jury was asked to render a special verdict. The special verdict form asked the jury to consider separately each decedent's estate's claim against the defendant. After deliberating, the jury returned three special verdicts, each in favor of the defendant. Subsequent to the trial, the plaintiff filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and alternatively to set aside the verdict, both of which the court denied. This appeal followed.
We first consider whether the trial court erred in refusing to grant the plaintiff's motion for a directed verdict during the trial and post-trial motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict in favor of the estate of Brian DeFrancesco. Motions for directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict are essentially the same, though made at different stages of the trial, and they are governed by identical standards. Amabello v. Colonial Motors, 117 N.H. 556, 561, 374 A.2d 1182, 1185 (1977). Thus, we will consider the plaintiff's contentions that the trial court erred in denying these motions together. We note that the plaintiff moved for a directed verdict only on behalf of the estate of Brian DeFrancesco. Likewise, in the notice of appeal he asserted that the trial court erred in denying the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict only with regard to Brian's estate. Therefore, we limit our review of these issues to the circumstances surrounding Brian's death.
A party is entitled to judgment notwithstanding the verdict only when the sole reasonable inference that may be drawn from the evidence, which must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, is so overwhelmingly in favor of the moving party that no contrary verdict could stand. Corliss v. Mary Hitchcock Mem. Hosp., 127 N.H. 225, 228, 497 A.2d 1239, 1241 (1985); Cutter v. Town of Farmington, 126 N.H. 836, 839-40, 498 A.2d 316, 319 (1985). The court cannot weigh the evidence or inquire into the credibility of the witnesses, and "[i]f the evidence adduced at trial is conflicting, or if several reasonable inferences may be drawn, the motion should be denied." Cutter, 126 N.H. at 840, 498 A.2d at 319.
As grounds for both motions the plaintiff contends that the sole reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence was that the defendant breached her statutory duty under RSA 153:10-a by failing to equip her premises with any smoke detectors, and, alternatively, if she did install a smoke detector, that she failed to properly locate it or to maintain it in a suitable condition. "[A] causal violation of a statutory standard of conduct constitutes legal fault in the same manner as does the causal violation of a common-law standard of due care...." Moulton v. Groveton Papers Co., 112 N.H. 50, 52, 289 A.2d 68, 71 (1972); see also LeFavor v. Ford, 135 N.H. 311, 314, 604 A.2d 570, 572 (1992). The statute that the plaintiff claims the defendant failed to abide by provides as follows:
We first consider whether the defendant violated her statutory duty to equip her rental premises with automatic fire warning devices. At trial, the plaintiff produced evidence tending to show that there were no smoke detectors in the house. Charles Chamberlain, an investigator for the state fire marshal's office, and James Cote, the Chief of the Derry fire department, testified for the plaintiff. Chief Cote testified that he did not observe smoke detectors to be present anywhere in the premises after the fire. He also testified that none of the firefighters under his command reported finding any smoke detectors or the remnants of any such device. Inspector Chamberlain testified that he too did not discover any smoke detectors in the premises. Additionally, he testified that on the morning of the fire he spoke with Ida Watts, who stated that she thought she had given smoke detectors to a previous tenant, but that she did not know whether the tenant had installed the smoke detectors.
The defendant, however, produced contradictory testimony from former tenants. Brandt Wright testified that he installed a smoke detector on the second floor of the premises in 1978 and maintained it while he lived there. Robert Carbonneau, who lived at the premises from July 1983 to October 1984, testified that Ida Watts delivered a second smoke detector to him which he installed downstairs. Mr. Carbonneau stated that he maintained both detectors in working condition during the period of his tenancy. Michael Hills, the tenant who immediately preceded the DeFrancescos, testified that two smoke detectors were present in the premises while he was a tenant. Mr. Hills also testified that during his tenancy he relocated the downstairs smoke detector to the archway that opened into the living room at the front right-hand corner of the house. This was the room in which Brian and Edward...
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