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Shankman v. State7/13/2005
Argued March 28, 2005
This is a consolidated personal injury case involving claims by a husband and wife against multiple defendants. The posture of the appeal is influenced by the fact that the wife's claims included a count of negligence against her husband, the driver of the vehicle in which she was injured, that was settled prior to trial.
Chief among the issues raised before us is an allegation that an illegal "quotient verdict" was rendered by the jury. In their appeal to the Appellate Division, plaintiffs Dora and Stephen Shankman contended that the jury appeared to have used a quotient method in reaching its verdict, and that the trial court had a duty to inquire further of the jury to determine whether an illegal "quotient verdict" had occurred when the court was asked directly to do so by Dora's counsel. The Appellate Division agreed that the trial court erred in declining to inquire of the jurors under the circumstances, and set aside the jury's verdict on liability apportionment. Dora has petitioned for certification, contending that she is entitled to a new trial on both liability and damages.
Defendant Conti Enterprises primarily asserts that the jury verdict was proper and should be restored. Conti also filed a cross-petition concerning certain evidential issues. Specifically, it contends that it should be permitted to inform the jury that Dora sued her husband and that she alleged in her pleading that he was speeding at the time of the accident. Further, Conti contends that the trial court correctly allowed the jury to hear that Stephen's insurance company had settled with Dora.
We granted the petition, 182 N.J. 427 (2005) and cross-petition, 182 N.J. 428 (2005), and now hold that a new trial on both liability and damages must occur. We further hold that the Appellate Division correctly restricted on retrial what the jury may be told in respect of Dora's pleadings and the fact that Stephen's insurer had settled.
I.
Late in the evening of December 16, 1996, Stephen and Dora were involved in the automobile accident that is the subject of this civil action. Following a dinner with friends at a restaurant in Oakland, New Jersey, the Shankmans left at about 11 p.m. to return to their home in Maple Glen, Pennsylvania. During their journey Dora began to doze. She was asleep in the passenger seat at the time the accident occurred. Stephen was driving southbound on Route 287 when, without warning, at milepost 21.3 near the intersection between Route 287 and Route 78, a large Caterpillar backhoe driven by Salvatore J. Mavuro pulled out in front of the Shankmans' car. The vehicles collided causing catastrophic injuries to the Shankmans.
At the time of the accident, Conti Enterprises was performing a road-widening project under a contract with the State. The roadwork necessitated right lane closures and was being performed at night to minimize disruption to highway traffic flow. The State's contract with Conti Enterprises established safety procedures that Conti was duty-bound to follow. Specifically, Conti was required to use a "chase vehicle" to escort slow-moving construction equipment and to employ a police-engineered slow down of oncoming traffic before construction equipment was permitted to enter a lane of travel.
Mavuro was aware of those safety procedures; however, he testified that when the site superintendent ordered him to move the backhoe he believed that the request was urgent. Therefore, he moved the equipment immediately, without waiting for an escort or for a slow down. Defendants, Conti Enterprises and the State of New Jersey, did not dispute that Mavuro deviated from safety standards in
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