 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
HUGHES v. STATE12/24/1996
I.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS
This appeal arose from a district court action for personal injury to Plaintiff-Respondent Dawn Hughes (Hughes). Hughes, an elementary school child, sustained injuries in September 1991 when a Chevrolet Blazer driven by Defendant-Appellant Craig Peterson (Peterson) struck her. Peterson was employed by the Department of Law Enforcement (Department), which owned the Blazer Peterson was driving at the time of the accident. According to Hughes' testimony, she was preparing to cross a residential street at the crosswalk when she crouched behind a Dodge Dart that was parked in a no parking zone and looked in the direction of oncoming traffic. Apparently, Hughes believed that no traffic was coming and stepped into the crosswalk. The right front corner of the Blazer struck Hughes when she was in the middle of the street. Hughes' mother filed suit against Peterson and the Department on Hughes' behalf.
A jury heard the case in March 1995 and found that the Department and Peterson were not in any way the proximate cause of the accident. After the trial, the Hugheses made a motion for new trial based on I.R.C.P. 59(a)(1), (2), (3), (6), and (7) and also made a motion for judgment NOV. The district court heard oral argument concerning the motions. The court denied the motion for judgment NOV but granted the motion for new trial, basing its reasons for granting the motion for new trial on three of the five grounds the Hugheses alleged. However, the district court did not rely in any way on the affidavit the Hugheses filed in support of their motion, nor did the court rely on the facts and particular grounds stated in the Hugheses' motion and affidavit. The Department appealed the district court's grant of a new trial, contending that the court abused its discretion.
Because the district court based its grant of a new trial on entirely different factual bases than the Hugheses asserted in support of their motion, it is important at the outset to note what this Court is not ruling on. This Court is not ruling on the Hugheses' motion for new trial and supporting affidavit because the affidavit clearly is defective and would not support a motion for new trial. Consequently, this Court is assuming that the district court likewise concluded that it would ignore the motion and affidavit and, instead, would make its own ruling in granting a new trial. The district court is entitled to do that pursuant to I.R.C.P. 59(d), provided it bases its grant of a new trial on some or all of the reasons listed in I.R.C.P. 59(a). Smallwood v. Dick, 114 Idaho 860, 761 P.2d 1212 (1988). While the district court did not refer specifically to I.R.C.P. 59(d), this Court interprets the district court's ruling as grounded in I.R.C.P. 59(d). Therefore, this Court will review the district court's ruling based upon the grounds the district court articulated as its basis for granting the new trial.
II.
TRIAL ISSUES
A. Standard of Review
When considering an appeal from a district court's ruling on a motion for new trial, this Court applies the abuse of discretion standard. Bott v. Idaho State Building Authority, 122 Idaho 471, 835 P.2d 1282 (1992). This Court consistently has recognized the district court's wide discretion to grant or refuse to grant a new trial, and, on appeal, this Court will not disturb a district court ruling, absent a showing of manifest abuse of that discretion. First Realty & Investment Co. v. Rubert, 100 Idaho 493, 600 P.2d 1149 (1979). Although this Court necessarily must review the evidence, it primarily focuses on the process by which the district court reached its decision, not on
Page 1 2 3 4 Idaho Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|