Ruiz-Rodriguez v. Colberg-Comas

• Decision Date: 15 August 1989
• Docket Number: No. 88-1717,COLBERG-COMAS,RUIZ-RODRIGUE,P,88-1717
• Citation: 882 F.2d 15
• Parties: Jesuslaintiff, Appellant, v. Dr. Wallace A., et al., Defendants, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 15

882 F.2d 15

Jesus RUIZ-RODRIGUEZ, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Dr. Wallace A. COLBERG-COMAS, et al., Defendants, Appellees.

No. 88-1717.

United States Court of Appeals First Circuit.

Submitted Aug. 1, 1989.

Decided Aug. 15, 1989.

Arturo Aponte Pares and Samuel Gracia Gracia, Caguas, P.R., on brief, for plaintiff, appellant.

Luis Berrios-Amadeo and Cancio, Nadal & Rivera, San Juan, P.R., on brief, for defendants, appellees.

Before CAMPBELL, Chief Judge, BOWNES and BREYER, Circuit Judges.

LEVIN H. CAMPBELL, Chief Judge.

A district court jury found for plaintiff Jesus Ruiz-Rodriguez on his malpractice claim but awarded no damages. After the district court denied plaintiff's motion for a new trial and restricted his recovery of expert witness costs to those enunciated in 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1821, plaintiff brought this appeal. We affirm.

On the morning of June 21, 1985, Jesus Ruiz-Martinez became ill. His wife contacted Dr. Wallace Colberg-Comas, who visited the couple's home, examined Mr. Ruiz-Martinez, and prescribed various forms of medication. As the day progressed, however, Mr. Ruiz-Martinez's condition worsened until 7:30 p.m., when Dr. Colberg-Comas referred him to the Yaucao Regional Hospital for treatment. Mr. Ruiz-Martinez died on the way to the hospital.

In June of 1986, plaintiff Jesus Ruiz-Rodriguez, a citizen of New York and son of Mr. Ruiz-Martinez, brought this diversity action in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico against Dr. Colberg and his alleged insurers, Corporacion Insular de Seguros and Administracion del Fondo de Compensacion al Paciente. Ruiz-Rodriguez alleged malpractice and sought damages in excess of $75,000 for the "extreme mental anguish" he suffered as a result of his father's unexpected death.

The trial occurred in January 1988. Each side presented expert testimony on the issue of malpractice. On the issue of damages, Ruiz-Rodriguez offered uncontradicted and corroborated testimony that he loved and admired his father and felt despondent upon learning of his father's death. He further testified that he received some psychiatric counseling to deal with his depression. On cross-examination, Ruiz-Rodriguez admitted he had rarely seen his father in recent years and that his alleged depression had not prevented him from obtaining a new job as a mortgage broker almost immediately following his father's death.

The district court submitted the case to the jury. During the course of deliberations, the jury presented the judge with the following written question: "We are confuse. [sic] Let us know if this trial is for mal-practice [sic] or damages suffered by Mr. Jesus Ruiz Rodriguez." After consulting with counsel, the judge responded, "This case is for medical malpractice. Accordingly, you should determine pursuant to my instructions whether medical malpractice was incurred or not. If you find that there was medical malpractice, then you must determine whether or not Jesus Ruiz-Rodriguez, son of the deceased, Jesus Ruiz Martinez, suffered any damages."

The jury eventually reached a verdict, finding for the plaintiff but stating the amount of damages awarded as "none." The district court denied plaintiff's motion for a new trial on the issue of damages and refused plaintiff's request for expert witness costs above the statutory amount set forth in 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1821.

On appeal, Ruiz-Rodriguez contends that the lower court abused its discretion in denying his new trial motion. For us to overturn the district court and direct the granting of a new trial, we must find the jury's verdict so against the great weight of the evidence as to constitute a manifest miscarriage of justice. See Freeman v. Package Machinery Co., 865 F.2d 1331, 1333 (1st Cir.1988). Ruiz-Rodriguez maintains that the uncontradicted evidence concerning his personal reaction to his father's death compelled the jury to find that he suffered at least some compensable injuries.

We are unable to agree. In Puerto Rico, a plaintiff seeking compensatory damages for mental suffering must show that in "some appreciable measure the health, welfare and happiness of the claimant were really affected." Moa v. Commonwealth, 100 P.R.R. 572, 585-86 (1972) (emphasis added). In the present case, it was the jury's duty to weigh plaintiff's testimony that he was close to his father and became depressed and despondent, against evidence that they had rarely seen one another in recent years and that plaintiff had begun a new job right after his father's death. We cannot say that on such a record a reasonable jury was bound to find that the father's death had affected plaintiff's health, welfare and happiness in some appreciable measure. The trial judge, whose opportunity to see and hear the witnesses deserves our careful respect, was satisfied to maintain the jury's determination. We find no manifest miscarriage of justice.

Ruiz-Rodriguez's reliance on cases in which a jury ignored uncontradicted evidence of substantial injuries is misplaced. See, e.g., McKinzie v. Fleming, 588 F.2d 165, 167 (5th Cir.1979) (per curiam) (ordering new trial jury where jury found liability but awarded no damages despite undisputed evidence of substantial physical injuries); Parker v. Wideman, 380 F.2d 433, 437 (5th Cir.1967) (ordering new trial where "there was uncontroverted and unimpeached testimony that the appellant sustained substantial injuries as a result of the accident, and no evidence was adduced which would support the jury's finding that the appellant sustained no damages ...)." Here, the evidence of damage was far more equivocal. Plaintiff's claim of serious psychological injury cannot be said to have been proven to the degree that a reasonable jury had to believe it. Rather the jury could have concluded that whatever sadness Ruiz-Rodriguez experienced as a result of his parent's death did not rise to the level of compensable damages.

A jury's award of...