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AMF BOWLING CENTERS11/17/1995
This appeal arises from a personal injury case in which the trial court refused, on the basis of inadequacy of damages, to accept the original verdict rendered by the jury in favor of the plaintiff, and gave the jury a supplemental instruction. The jury then returned a verdict in the amount of the plaintiff's medical expenses.
Brenda Susan Dearman and Earnest Dearman sued AMF Bowling Centers, Inc., alleging negligence. Brenda Dearman sought compensatory damages for personal injuries she claimed to have sustained when she fell at the bowling alley on October 17, 1992. Earnest Dearman sought damages for loss of consortium. They later amended their complaint to seek punitive damages based on an allegation of wantonness.
At trial, Ms. Dearman introduced into evidence medical bills totaling $18,577.35. She stated on cross-examination that her insurance company had paid 80% of the medical bills. At the close of the evidence, the trial judge directed a verdict for AMF Bowling on the wantonness claim and submitted the negligence claim to the jury. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Ms. Dearman, awarding $5,000 in compensatory damages. The trial court instructed the jury that the award was inadequate, because the evidence showed that the medical bills totaled $18,577.35. The trial judge gave this supplemental instruction:
"Ladies and gentlemen, if you find a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, you have got to compensate the plaintiff for all damages that were proven. You have entered a judgment for five thousand dollars. My recollection of the evidence was that there was at least eighteen thousand dollars in medical expenses, so I am going to send you back to deliberate to reconsider on the plaintiff's damages."
AMF Bowling's counsel objected to this instruction.
The jury was excused to deliberate again, but returned with two questions, one of which was: "Our understanding was damages incurred by the plaintiff, not her insurance company." The judge responded: "You're not allowed to reduce a plaintiff's verdict by what was paid by the insurance company. She still incurred the bill and she is entitled to recover for those damages."
The jury deliberated again, and returned with a verdict in favor of Ms. Dearman awarding damages of $18,577.35; the trial
court entered a judgment accordingly. The jury found in favor of AMF Bowling on Mr. Dearman's loss of consortium claim, and the trial court entered a judgment accordingly. The Dearmans moved for a new trial on the issue of damages, arguing that the damages awarded were inadequate. AMF Bowling moved for the trial court to enter a judgment in accordance with the jury's original verdict of $5,000. The trial court did not rule on AMF Bowling's motion, but granted the Dearmans' motion for a new trial; AMF Bowling appeals.
AMF Bowling argues that the trial court erred in not granting its motion to enter a judgment pursuant to the jury's original verdict, and in granting the Dearmans' motion for a new trial. Specifically, AMF argues that the trial judge's supplemental instruction was erroneous.
As a general rule, in awarding damages when liability has been proven, the verdict must include an amount at least as high as uncontradicted special damages, as well as an amount sufficient to compensate for pain and suffering. Nemec v. Harris, 536 So.2d 93 (Ala.Civ.App. 1988). But in the case where medical expenses are claimed, some of which have been paid by medical insurance, the amount of damages recoverable may be less than the total medical expenses incurred. Senn v. Alabama Gas Corp., 619 So.2d 1320, 1325 (Ala. 1993).
In Senn v. Alabama Gas Corp., the S
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