Mims v. Coleman, 18544
| Decision Date | 01 August 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 18544,18544 |
| Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | Mark A. MIMS, Respondent, v. James R. COLEMAN, H. W. Brown, and Hyman Motors, Inc., of Which James R.Coleman is, Appellant. |
Willcox, Hardee, Houck, Palmer & O'Farrell, Florence, for appellant.
Yarborough & Nettles, Florence, Joe F. Anderson, Edgefield, for respondent.
Respondent brought this action against James R. Coleman, H. W. Brown and Hyman Motors, Inc., seeking to recover damages in the amount of Twenty Thousand ($20,000.00) Dollars for personal injuries sustained by him in an automobile accident on April 16, 1961, in Florence County; and the case was tried before the Honorable James Hugh McFaddin and a jury at the November, 1962, term of the Court of Common Pleas for that county.
At the conclusion of the plaintiff's testimony a nonsuit was granted as to Hyman Motors, Inc., and no appeal was taken from that order. Upon completion of all testimony the defendant Coleman moved for a directed verdict, and that motion was refused. The case was then submitted to the jury, who found a verdict in favor of Coleman and against Brown, who was in default, for the full amount demanded in the complaint. The plaintiff then moved for a new trial. That motion was marked 'heard' by agreement; and thereafter in March, 1965, it was argued before the trial judge, who on March 31, 1965, filed an order granting the plaintiff a new trial against the defendants Coleman and Brown, upon the ground that the verdict was 'contrary to the evidence and the greater weight thereof.' From that order Coleman has appealed. An order granting a new trial on factual grounds is not appealable. But the question of existence or nonexistence of evidence is one of law; and to that extent such an order is subject to our review. Carolina Aviation v. Glens Falls Insurance Co., 214 S.C. 222, 51 S.E.2d 757. Our inquiry here must, therefore, be limited to the question of whether there was any evidence from which the jury might reasonably have inferred that respondent's injuries were proximately caused by negligence of the appellant. If that question is answered in the affirmative the appeal must be dismissed, for this court has no power to weigh conflicting evidence in a law case. But if there was no evidence of actionable negligence on the part of the appellant, there was no conflicting evidence to be weighed, and the order granting a new trial on the ground stated by the trial judge would be erroneous as a matter of law.
Coleman and Brown were employees of Hyman Motors, Inc., a dealer in new and used automobiles in the City of Florence. Coleman was a selesman in the parts department; Brown's job was on the 'grease rack', attending to...
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