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Orme School v. Reeves12/6/1990
ot respond to the motion by showing that there is evidence creating a genuine issue of fact on the element in question, then the motion for summary judgment should be granted. We conceive of no mischief in this principle and believe it, too, should be adopted and applied to the case before us.
C. Application to the Present Case
This case involves not a constitutional issue but a common law tort problem in which the applicable evidentiary standard is a preponderance of the evidence. Here, if anywhere, as a matter of historical practice and constitutional requirement, the jury is given the most deference in weighing evidence, drawing inferences, and reaching conclusions on questions of negligence, causation, and damages. See generally PROSSER & KEETON ON THE LAW OF TORTS § 37, at 235-38 (5th ed.1984); Ariz. Const. art. 18, § 5 (specifying that the defenses of contributory negligence and assumption of risk shall be for the jury to consider).
Nevertheless, the fact that a claimant need only prove his or her tort claim or defense by a preponderance of the evidence does not imply that the courts must allow the claim or defense to go to the jury where the proponent presents no evidence from which a reasonable jury could find, directly or by inference, that the probabilities favored the proponent. On the record before us, it appears that, at best, the chances are one out of one hundred that Orme, the movant, was a tortfeasor, and ninety-nine out of one hundred that CWS was the active wrongdoer responsible for
the salmonella infestation. CWS could produce no other evidence to refute the claim for indemnity. While one chance in one hundred may qualify as a "slightest doubt" and might be described as a "scintilla of evidence," it is apparent that with no direct evidence and no circumstantial evidence permitting any other or better inference, the trial judge would be required to direct a verdict in favor of Orme. On such evidence, no reasonable juror could conclude by even a preponderance of the evidence that Orme, rather than CWS, was actively responsible for the injury to Mills.
Discovery presumably having been completed, in such a situation there is nothing to be gained by denying the motion for summary judgment and allowing the case to be tried. One might speculate that if the motion were denied and the case eventually tried, some witness might change his testimony or recall additional facts, new evidence might be discovered, or the complexion of the case might otherwise change. Nevertheless, when discovery has been completed and the proponent of a claim or defense is unable to produce evidence sufficient to send the claim or defense to the jury, it would effectively abrogate the summary judgment rule to hold that the motion should be denied simply on the speculation that some slight doubt (and few cases have complete certainty), some scintilla of evidence, or some dispute over irrelevant or immaterial facts might blossom into a real controversy in the midst of trial. The purpose of the summary judgment rule is to enable trial courts to rid the system of claims that are meritless and do not deserve to be tried. C.A. WRIGHT, supra § 99, at 664.
We hold, therefore, that even though it might be said that CWS had raised a scintilla of evidence or a slight doubt, the evidence in this case was such that, if produced at trial, the trial judge would have been required to direct a verdict in favor of Orme and therefore should have granted summary judgment in its favor. In reaching this conclusion, however, we note that in ruling on the motion for summary judgment, the trial judge would no
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