Hawkins v. Sims
| Citation | 137 F.2d 66 |
| Decision Date | 14 July 1943 |
| Docket Number | No. 5098.,5098. |
| Parties | HAWKINS v. SIMS. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit) |
H. D. Rollins, of Charleston, W. Va., for appellant.
Staige Davis, of Charleston, W. Va., (Davis & Painter, of Charleston, W. Va., on the brief), for appellee.
Before PARKER, DOBIE and NORTHCOTT, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from an order setting aside a verdict for plaintiff and entering judgment, without further trial, for the defendant. The action was one for alienation of affections, and the jury returned a verdict for plaintiff in the sum of $250. After verdict, defendant having moved at the conclusion of the testimony for a directed verdict made a motion for judgment in accordance with that motion, or, in the alternative, that the court set aside the verdict as contrary to the law and the evidence and award a new trial. In support of the motion defendant offered a number of affidavits going to the credibility of evidence relied on by plaintiff. The court, without indicating that the evidence taken on the trial was insufficient when viewed apart from the affidavits but without passing on the motion for new trial, granted the motion of defendant for judgment, and plaintiff has appealed.
It is well settled that a judgment n. o. v. cannot be granted except where motion for directed verdict has been made, and then only where the motion for directed verdict should have been granted, i.e. where there is no substantial evidence to support the verdict. And, in passing upon such motion, the evidence must be taken in the light most favorable to the party in whose favor the verdict has been returned, and all conflicts must be resolved in his favor. Etna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Yeatts, 4 Cir., 122 F.2d 350. Such motion is to be distinguished from a motion to set aside a verdict and grant a new trial, which is addressed to the discretion of the trial judge and should be granted, even though there be substantial evidence supporting the verdict, if in his opinion the ends of justice so require. Etna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Yeatts, supra. The distinction, which is the same in the case of motion for judgment n. o. v. as in case of motion for directed verdict, was stated by this court with some care in Garrison v. United States, 4 Cir., 62 F.2d 41, in a passage quoted with approval in Roedegir v. Phillips, 4 Cir., 85 F.2d 995, 996, and Etna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Yeatts, supra, 122 F.2d 354 which is as follows: ...
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...judgment notwithstanding a verdict under F.R.Civ.P. 50 is the same as that for granting a motion for a directed verdict. Hawkins v. Simm, 137 F.2d 66, 67 (4th Cir. 1943). Accordingly, directed verdicts must be reviewed carefully in light of the standard which asks whether, viewing the evide......
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...Business Development Corporation of North Carolina v. United States, 428 F.2d 451, 453 (4th Cir. 1970). See also Hawkins v. Sims, 137 F.2d 66, 67 (4th Cir. 1943); Ford Motor Co. v. McDavid, 259 F.2d 261, 266 (4th Cir.), cert. denied 358 U.S. 908, 79 S.Ct. 234, 3 L.Ed.2d 229 (1958); Old Domi......
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