Jennings v. Ray, 85-367
| Decision Date | 06 February 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-367,85-367 |
| Parties | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 357 Jesse J. JENNINGS, et al., Appellants, v. Joe F. RAY, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Leon M. Boyajan, II, of Law Offices of J. Russell Hornsby, P.A., Orlando, for appellants.
Carey N. Bos of Rogers, Dowling & Bos, Orlando, for appellee.
The Jenningses appeal from a final judgment in favor of Joe Ray in a personal injury action. The Jenningses had filed suit against Ray, claiming that Mrs. Jennings was injured in a rear-end collision caused by Ray. The court below concluded that the evidence failed to establish that Mrs. Jennings' injuries were the result of the collision and directed a verdict in Ray's favor. We find that the court erred in directing the verdict and accordingly reverse and remand for a new trial.
At trial, Mrs. Jennings testified that as she waited to turn at an intersection, she heard "something go, a boomp like that." Mrs. Jennings looked up in the mirror at Ray's car and said: "Oh, God, he done hit me in the back." Mrs. Jennings testified that the impact moved her forward toward the steering wheel and that she felt a jerk in her back and was in pain. On cross-examination, defense counsel elicited the fact that Mrs. Jennings' car did not move forward in the accident and that it stayed in the same spot where it had been bumped.
Dr. Badzinski, Mrs. Jennings' chiropractor, testified that she had suffered a whiplash injury, that the injury was permanent, and that she had a three percent whole person impairment. On cross-examination, Dr. Badzinski testified that if Mrs. Jennings' car did not move at all, then there could be no injury and hence Mrs. Jennings' complaints must have resulted from something else.
At the conclusion of the Jenningses' case, defense counsel moved for a directed verdict on the basis that the plaintiffs had failed to establish causation. The defense argued that since Mrs. Jennings testified that her car did not move and Dr. Badzinski testified that there could be no injury without movement, evidence of causation, which is an essential element of a negligence action, was missing. The court accepted this argument and directed a verdict in favor of Ray.
A directed verdict should not be granted where there is any reasonable evidence tending to prove the plaintiff's case. Howarth v. Moreau, 430 So.2d 576 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). If the evidence is conflicting or different conclusions or inferences could be drawn, the...
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