Conti v. Brown

• Decision Date: 08 May 1962
• Citation: 181 A.2d 591,149 Conn. 465
• Parties: Mimi B. CONTI v. William BROWN et al. Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court

Page 591

181 A.2d 591

149 Conn. 465

Mimi B. CONTI v. William BROWN et al.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

May 8, 1962.

Charles R. Covert, Bridgeport, with whom was E. Arthur Morin, Jr., Stamford, for appellant (plaintiff).

Maurice J. Buckley, Stamford, for appellees (defendants).

Before BALDWIN, C. J., and KING, MURPHY, SHEA and ALCORN, JJ.

SHEA, Justice.

The plaintiff sustained personal injuries as a result of an automobile collision alleged to have been caused by the negligence of the defendants. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff of $1100, a sum which exceeded by only a small amount the total of the expenses claimed to have been incurred by her as special damages. She has appealed, claiming that the court erred in certain rulings on evidence and in the denial of her motion to set aside the verdict as inadequate.

In March, 1957, the plaintiff was operating an automobile in an easterly direction on Hoyt Street in Stamford when a westbound truck driven by the named defendant crossed the center line onto the southerly side of the street and collided with the car operated by the plaintiff. She was driven to the Stamford Hospital, where x rays were taken. She was advised to see her family doctor and was discharged the same day. She claimed that she had suffered injuries to her abdomen, back, neck and right leg. She testified that she had severe backaches, that daily headaches had persisted to the time of trial, that she suffered a serious impairment of hearing, that her right leg kept falling asleep, and that she was nervous and irritable and unable to do her housework. She also stated that she had not been able to work in the laboratory where she had obtained employment shortly before the accident. The defendants, on the other hand, claimed that there had been only a slight contact between the two vehicles, that the property damage was insignificant, and that the plaintiff was exaggerating her injuries.

The factors to be considered by us in determining whether the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to set aside a verdict were recently reviewed in Desmarais v. Pinto, 147 Conn. 109, 110, 157 A.2d 596. We decide only whether, on the evidence presented, the jury could fairly reach the conclusion they did. Giambartolomei v. Rocky DeCarlo & Sons, Inc., 143 Conn. 468, 474, 123 A.2d 760. The evidence concerning her injuries and their effect on her was in sharp conflict. The jury could reasonably find that there was little or no foundation for her claims. They could reasonably conclude that she had suffered a mild sprain of her neck and back, that her injuries were not permanent, and that she had unduly magnified them and exaggerated the consequences. It was within the province of the jury to accept or reject any or all of the evidence concerning her injuries. Martino v. Palladino, 143 Conn. 547, 549, 123 A.2d 872.

One of the plaintiff's...