Magee v. General Motors Corp.
| Decision Date | 21 June 1954 |
| Docket Number | No. 11266.,11266. |
| Citation | 213 F.2d 899 |
| Parties | MAGEE v. GENERAL MOTORS CORP. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
George Y. Meyer, Pittsburgh, Pa., for appellant.
Marvin D. Power, Pittsburgh, Pa., (Margiotti & Casey, Pittsburgh, on the brief), for appellee.
Before BIGGS, Chief Judge, and MARIS and GOODRICH, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal by the defendant from the refusal of its motion for a new trial. The action had been brought against it by the owner of a Buick automobile which it had manufactured for injuries alleged to have resulted from a defect in the steering mechanism of the car. The jury brought in a verdict for the plaintiff in the sum of $50,000.00, whereupon the trial judge, the late Judge Burns, stated to them: Motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial were made by the defendant but Judge Burns died before they could be heard by him. Subsequently they were assigned for consideration to another judge of the district court who refused the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and also refused the motion for a new trial on condition that the plaintiff remit so much of the verdict as was in excess of $31,060.00. 117 F.Supp. 101. Such a remittitur was filed.
The defendant contends on this appeal that the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence and that the district court erred in refusing to grant a new trial on that ground. While it is true that a court of appeals will not reverse a judgment and direct a new trial solely on that ground, Miller v. United States, 3 Cir., 1943, 137 F.2d 592, the power and duty of the judge of the district court to do so in a proper case is settled and clear. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Yeatts, 4 Cir., 1941, 122 F.2d 350; Cheffey v. Pennsylvania R. Co., D.S.M.D.Pa.1948, 79 F. Supp. 252; 3 Barron & Holtzoff, Federal Practice and Procedure, 225. It is for him to see that right and justice are done in the case before him, setting aside the verdict and granting a new trial if in the exercise of a sound discretion he thinks such action necessary to prevent an unjust result. And if he should fail to exercise his discretion in this regard he may, on appeal, be directed to do so. That is the situation here.
The motion for a new trial was based, inter alia, upon the ground...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Kowtko v. Delaware and Hudson Railroad Corp.
...2, 3, 7, 8. As to the applicable tests, see Cheffey v. Pennsylvania R. Co., supra, 79 F. Supp. at page 259; Magee v. General Motors Corpn., 3 Cir., 1954, 213 F.2d 899, at page 900. 20 A widow; the other four adult members of the family lived elsewhere; decedent alone contributed to her 21 W......
-
Medical Mut. Liability Ins. Soc. of Maryland v. B. Dixon Evander & Associates, Inc.
...be more nearly accomplished, we think, if the district court treated each of the claimed errors on its merits"); Magee v. General Motors Corp., 213 F.2d 899, 900 (3rd Cir.1954). Here, as in Alexander & Alexander, the commercial dispute that triggered the awards of punitive damages was not "......
-
Smith v. Union Oil Co.
...of a trial judge in passing on a motion for judgment n.o.v. with his role in deciding a motion for a new trial. Magee v. General Motors Corp., 3 Cir., 1954, 213 F.2d 899. The one motion requires a judge to determine whether the evidence and justifiable inference most favorable to the prevai......
-
Johns v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company
...the view of the evidence most favorable to the plaintiffs. Magee v. General Motors Corp., D.C., 117 F.Supp. 101, and the same case at 3 Cir., 213 F.2d 899. Considered under the foregoing principles, the evidence may be summarized as follows: the weather was clear and visibility good. Johns ......