Cram v. Meagher

• Decision Date: 01 February 1944
• Docket Number: 1029
• Citation: 35 A.2d 855,113 Vt. 463
• Parties: MINNIE CRAM v. JAMES R. MEAGHER
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court

35 A.2d 855

113 Vt. 463

MINNIE CRAM v. JAMES R. MEAGHER

No. 1029

Supreme Court of Vermont

February 1, 1944

January Term, 1944.

Trial Court's Discretion as to Setting Aside Verdict.

1. The expression "against the evidence" means the same thing as "against the weight of the evidence", and in this connection the word "against" has the same meaning as the words "contrary to".

2. The Supreme Court on appeal will not disturb a ruling by which a verdict has been set aside as contrary to the weight of the evidence, merely because the evidence preponderates in its favor; to justify interference it must appear that the evidence is so strongly in favor of the verdict as to leave no reasonable basis for a contrary verdict.

TORT for negligence in operation of automobile. Trial by jury Rutland County Court, September Term, 1942, Adams, J presiding. Verdict for the plaintiff. Before judgment the defendant moved to set aside the verdict. Motion granted.

The Judgment setting aside the verdict is affirmed, and cause remanded.

Philip M. M. Phelps for the plaintiff.

Fenton Wing & Morse and Clayton H. Kinney for the defendant.

Present: MOULTON, C. J., SHERBURNE, BUTTLES, STURTEVANT and JEFFORDS, JJ.

OPINION

SHERBURNE

This is an action to recover damages for personal injuries resulting from an automobile accident. After verdict for the plaintiff the defendant moved to have the verdict set aside upon a number of grounds, one of which was that the verdict was against the evidence, and the court granted the motion, to which the plaintiff excepted.

The plaintiff contends that the court abused its discretion in granting defendant's motion upon the ground that the verdict was against the evidence, and insists that the decision of the court is not borne out by a perusal of the record taken as a whole.

The expression "against the evidence" means the same thing as the expression "against the weight of the evidence", and in this connection the word "against" has the same meaning as the words "contrary to". Daniels. v Preston, 102 Vt. 337, 339, 148 A. 285. As said in Belock v. State Mutual Fire Ins. Co., 106 Vt. 435, 443, 175 A. 19, 22, "We will not disturb a ruling by which a verdict has been set aside as contrary to the weight of the evidence, merely because the evidence preponderates in its favor; to justify our interference it must appear that the evidence is so strongly in its favor as to leave no reasonable basis for a contrary verdict. We are bound to indulge every reasonable presumption in favor of the ruling, bearing in mind that the trial court was in the better position to determine the question."

The accident happened on South Main street in the village of Fair Haven. This street is straight and level at the place of the accident and runs generally north and south. Academy street enters it from the west. Just before the accident a truck traveling southerly had stopped on the west side of South Main street just north of Academy street, and another truck was traveling or had stopped on Academy street faced toward, and about to enter, South Main street.

The plaintiff was riding in an automobile with one Hunter. According to the allegations of her complaint and the tendency of her evidence this automobile was traveling northerly on its right side of South Main street, and was driven off the road to avoid as collision with the defendant's car, which was traveling southerly and on its left of the center of the road in passing the truck on the west side of the street, and which...