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English v. Wal-Mart Stores12/19/2000
urt granted a new trial based on the fact that it had failed to give defense counsel five minutes of rebuttal during closing argument after defense counsel elected to split its allotted twenty minutes of closing argument time. Defense counsel failed to object to the denial of rebuttal time until its motion for new trial and the trial court indicated it would have given the five minutes at trial if defense counsel would have reminded the court it had been reserved. The Oklahoma Supreme Court held that it is error to grant a new trial on the basis of harmless error and that the test for such error is the probability of a change in the outcome of the trial.
In the instant case, the trial court attacked Wal-Mart's evidence and defense strategy, and yet Wal-Mart prevailed. After repeating its view that the defense was absurd, the trial court sought to substitute its own will for that of the jury in granting a new trial because it believed its actions against Wal-Mart somehow swayed the jury in favor of Wal-Mart. It is unlikely, based on the evidence supporting the verdict and based on the trial court's criticism of Wal-Mart's defense, that the court's conduct had any positive effect on the jury finding in favor of Wal-Mart. We note the following language regarding the role of the trial court in a jury trial:
A trial judge may not sit as a thirteenth juror. It matters not that the trial court or this court might or might not have reached a different conclusion . . . . The court may not substitute its judgment for that of the jury and the exercise of its function as a fact finding body. In so doing, the trial court in this case abused its discretion. Were a trial court permitted an unbridled prerogative to substitute its opinion for that of a jury, it would be tantamount to a partial abrogation of the right to trial by jury. Dodson v. Henderson Properties, Inc., 1998 OK 71, 708 P.2d 1064, 1068.
We find that, based in part on the trial court's negative comments regarding Wal-Mart's defense, the trial court acted arbitrarily and capriciously in granting a new trial to English and therefore abused its discretion. We therefore reverse the grant of new trial and remand for judgment to be entered on the jury's verdict.
Wal-Mart's remaining assertions of error are that the trial court erred in allowing English to file her petition one day after the expiration of the statute of limitations and that the trial court erred in overruling Wal-Mart's demurrer/motion for directed verdict. Because of the result reached in this opinion, we find analysis of those issues unnecessary.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
JONES, P.J. and GARRETT, J., concur.
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