Pickel v. Rosen
| Decision Date | 15 October 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 68--254,68--254 |
| Citation | 214 So.2d 730 |
| Parties | Richard Allen PICKEL, Jr., a minor, by and through his father and next friend, Richard Allen Pickel, Sr., and Richard Allen Pickel, Sr., individually, Appellants, v. Sheila Markowitz ROSEN, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Fuller & Brumer, Kenneth L. Ryskamp, Miami, for appellants.
Dean, Adams, George & Wood and George Bunnell, Miami, for appellee.
Before CHARLES CARROLL, C.J., and BARKDULL and SWANN, JJ.
This is an action brought by the plaintiff-minor and his father, as next friend, to recover for personal injuries and medical expenses suffered by the minor in an automobile accident. The defendant denied any negligence and raised the defense of contributory negligence. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs, awarding the father $701.20 (the exact amount of the medical expenses incurred on behalf of the minor) but awarding the minor zero dollars for his pain and suffering.
Thus, although the issue of liability was resolved by the jury in favor of the plaintiffs, the question before us is whether the verdict was so inconsistent with regard to the damages as to require a new trial on the issue of the minor's damages alone. We hold that it was.
The minor evidenced objective signs of injury. The uncontradicted evidence was that he had sustained a class 'A' injury, that is, there was a visible sign of injury such as a bleeding wound or a distorted member, or that he had to be carried from the scene of the accident in an ambulance. As a result, he was hospitalized for surgery to remove a large hematoma on his left leg. The wound was cauterized with silver nitrate and a rubber drain was inserted in the wound from the five inch incision. This drain was kept there for approximately one week. There was uncontroverted evidence that this procedure was somewhat painful. Furthermore, there was no evidence that the minor had a pre-existing injury or had suffered from any pre-existing pathological condition.
Under these circumstances the award of zero dollars was inconsistent with the award of the exact medical expenses to the plaintiff-father. 1 See Noll v. Byorick, Fla.App.1959, 108 So.2d 67. Cf. Loftin v. Anderson, Fla.1953, 66 So.2d 470; Fejer v. Whitehall Laboratories, Inc., Fla.App.1966, 182 So.2d 438; Thieneman v. Cameron, Fla.App.1961, 126 So.2d 170; Annotation: Verdict Omitting Damages for Pain, 20 A.L.R.2d 276. See also Hatchell v. Hayes, Fla.App.1963, 157 So.2d 855; Smith v. City of Miami, ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Cowart v. Kendall United Methodist Church
...143 (Fla.1969); Faulk v. Schafer, 288 So.2d 570 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974); Hancock v. Smith, 248 So.2d 211 (Fla. 3d DCA 1971); Pickel v. Rosen, 214 So.2d 730 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968). See generally Sears Roebuck & Co. v. Jackson, 433 So.2d 1319 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). Considering the point directly at issue......
-
Robertson v. Stanley, 75
...175 A.2d 474 (1961). In other cases the appellate court held that such a verdict is inconsistent and therefore invalid. Pickel v. Rosen, 214 So.2d 730 (Fla.Ct.App.1968); Burkett v. Moran, 410 P.2d 876 (Okl.1965); Hall v. Cornett, 193 Or. 634, 240 P.2d 231 In Edmondson v. Keller, 401 S.W.2d ......
-
Beauvais v. Edell
...Cas. Ins. Co., 445 So.2d 415 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Rodriguez v. Allgreen Corp., 242 So.2d 741 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971); Pickel v. Rosen, 214 So.2d 730 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968). Daigneault, 624 So.2d at 819-20. In the cases cited in Daigneault, it appears that it was undisputed that the injuries resulte......
-
Deklyen v. Truckers World, Inc., 5D03-1480.
...(Fla. 1971); Griffis v. Hill, 230 So.2d 143 (Fla. 1969); Anderson v. Chirogianis, 384 So.2d 1289 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980); Picket v. Rosen, 214 So.2d 730 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968)). REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR A NEW TRIAL ON PETERSON and PALMER, JJ., concur. 1. Final judgment was entered in the amount of......