Masci v. Young

Decision Date16 November 1931
Docket NumberNo. 36.,36.
Citation157 A. 82
PartiesMASCI v. YOUNG.
CourtNew Jersey Supreme Court

Action by Anthony Masci against Charles Young. Verdict for the plaintiff. On defendant's rule to show cause.

Rule discharged on condition that plaintiff consent to reduction of verdict; otherwise rule made absolute.

Argued May term, 1931, before GUMMERE, C. J., and PARKER and CASE, JJ.

Aaron L. Simon, of Passaic, for plaintiff.

Kellogg & Chance, of Jersey City, for defendant.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff obtained a verdict at the Passaic circuit against the defendant in the amount of $14,000, for personal injuries received in an automobile accident.

The single question before us on defendant's rule to show cause why a new trial should not be granted is the claim that the damages awarded by the verdict are excessive.

Plaintiff is seventy years of age, a tailor by occupation, employed on piecework basis. Before receiving the injuries sued upon, he made between two and three coats a week, and earned between twenty-three and twenty-five dollars for each coat. The principal injury was a comminuted fracture of the leg, which caused the plaintiff to be twice placed in a cast; the first time for six weeks, and the second time for about two and one-half months. In addition, some teeth were loosened and later came out, and there was a laceration of the scalp and a brain concussion. In the healing process of the fractured leg, there appears to have been an overlapping of the bone, resulting in a shortening of the leg of an inch and a half with a probable percentage of impairment in the plaintiff's capacity for following his trade.

Our consideration of all the circumstances of the case, including the age of the'plaintiff, brings us to the conclusion that the verdict was excessive. If the plaintiff will consent to a reduction of the verdict to the sum of $10,000, the rule will be discharged; otherwise the rule will be made absolute, and a new trial ordered.

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2 cases
  • Masci v. Young
    • United States
    • New Jersey Supreme Court
    • October 17, 1932
  • de Santis v. Nat'l Biscuit Co.
    • United States
    • New Jersey Supreme Court
    • July 29, 1933
    ...such cases as Buckley v. Goldberg, 157 A. 245, 9 N. J. Misc. 1076; Rodriquez v. Ricker, 156 A. 916, 9 N. J. Misc. 1115; Masci v. Young, 157 A. 82, 9 N. J. Misc. 1137; Butryn v. Public Service, 157 A. 87, 9 N. J. Misc. 1145; Kalogerakas v. Public Service, 158 A. 408, 10 N. J. Misc. 175; Gree......

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