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Yohn v. Brandon9/27/2002
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FAILURE TO ACT ON MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL
When Ms. Yohn moved for a JNOV, she also filed an alternative motion for new trial. Although the trial court granted the JNOV, it did not act, directly or provisionally, on the motion for a new trial.
Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 1811 provides that a motion for new trial may be joined with a JNOV request, or made in the alternative. La. C.C.P. art. 1811 A (2). If the JNOV is granted, article 1811 requires the court to rule conditionally on the motion for new trial. La. C.C.P. art. 1811 C (1). Customarily, the first circuit has found that the failure to act on a pending motion for new trial retards the transfer of jurisdiction from the district court to the court of appeal. See La. C.C.P. arts. 2087 or 2123 and Petitto v. McMichael, 552 So.2d 790, 792 (La.App. 1 Cir. 1989). Without jurisdiction, any review by this court would be premature. When a motion for new trial is made as an alternative to a motion for JNOV, but not acted on, the appeal is dismissed, and the case is remanded for action by the trial court on the pending motion for a new trial. Petitto v. McMichael, 552 So.2d at 792-93. However, in a longstanding case procedurally similar to the case before us, the Louisiana Supreme Court rejected a remand in the interest of justice for the parties, and for the sake of judicial economy.
Specifically, the supreme court stated: "Because we have previously concluded that the jury's verdict is reasonable in light of the evidence presented, we find that plaintiffs are not entitled to a new trial." VaSalle v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2001-0462, p. 18 (La. 11/28/01), 801 So.2d 331, 342. Apparently, the supreme court reasoned that if the JNOV was erroneously granted in the face of a reasonable jury verdict, a ruling on the motion for new trial was unnecessary or moot. See Sledge v. Continental Casualty Company, 26,472, p. 1 (dissent) (La.App. 2 Cir. 1/25/95), 654 So.2d 358, 365 (on rehearing, Hightower, J. dissenting) (If the jury verdict is reasonable and well founded in the law, no real basis for a new trial exists). Additionally, the supreme court must have found that jurisdiction was not delayed by the open motion for a new trial and that jurisdiction had transferred to the supreme court. Otherwise, the court would not have had jurisdiction to review the JNOV, and thereafter reach the issue of the still pending motion for new trial. For these reasons, and based on the same procedural facts in both this longstanding case and VaSalle, we reject remand in favor of justice and judicial economy. As with the supreme court in VaSalle, we have "concluded that the jury's verdict is reasonable in light of the evidence presented," and that the plaintiff was "not entitled to a new trial-" VaSalle v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2001-0462 at p. 18, 801 So.2d at 342.
For these reasons, we reverse the JNOV, and reinstate the jury verdict as amended to reflect the re-apportionment of the trial costs. The costs of the appeal are assessed to plaintiff-appellee, Ms. Yohn.
JNOV REVERSED; JURY VERDICT RE-INSTATED, AS AMENDED.
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