Insurance Co. of North America v. Musa

785 F.2d 370
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedMarch 6, 1986
DocketNos. 84-1758, 84-1759
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 785 F.2d 370 (Insurance Co. of North America v. Musa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Insurance Co. of North America v. Musa, 785 F.2d 370 (1st Cir. 1986).

Opinion

BREYER, Circuit Judge.

This appeal arises out of a civil suit brought by the Insurance Company of North America (INA), in which it claims that defendants Jamal and Hassan Musa deliberately set fire to their store in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in order to collect insurance proceeds. A jury found for the defendants on certain key matters. On this appeal we basically must decide whether the evidence supporting INA was so overwhelming that the district court should have directed a jury verdict or entered judgment notwithstanding the verdict in INA’s favor. Having reviewed the record, including exhibits and the transcript of the six-day trial, in light of the governing legal standards, we conclude that the evidence does not allow us to overturn the jury’s findings. We therefore accept the district court’s similar conclusions and affirm its judgment.

I

The background of this appeal is as follows: INA filed a civil suit in federal district court against the Musas seeking a declaratory judgment that they had committed arson and fraud and that INA therefore owed them nothing under their fire insurance policy with INA. Jamal Musa counterclaimed for the proceeds of the insurance policy; he sought compensation under the policy for 1) damage to the building, 2) loss of business profits, and 3) loss of inventory. The parties stipulated that the first two of these losses amounted to $127,000. They agreed that the Musas would receive this amount, if the jury found the insurance company liable. Jamal claimed that the inventory loss amounted to $1.37 million — a figure that INA strongly disputed.

After trial, the court submitted special interrogatories to the jury. The jury answered them as follows:

1. Do you believe by a preponderance of the evidence that the Bargain Shop fire in Ponce was the result of arson?
Answer: Yes.
2. Do you believe by a preponderance of the evidence that defendant Hassan A. Musa, either directly or indirectly, engaged in a plan with one or more persons so that the fire at Bargain Shop in Ponce could occur?
Answer: No.
3. Do you believe by a preponderance of the evidence that defendant Jamal A. Musa, either directly or indirectly, engaged in a plan with one or more persons so that the fire at Bargain Shop in Ponce could occur?
Answer: No.
4. Do you believe the Insurance Company of North America should be caused to pay any money to defendants under its insurance policy?
Answer: Yes.
[372]*3725. Do you believe by a preponderance of the evidence the aforesaid claim filed by Jamal A. Musa in the amount of $1,370,000 against the Insurance Company of North America was fraudulent and was intended to deceive the insurance company?
Answer: No.
6. Do you believe defendant Jamal A. Musa proved by a preponderance of the evidence the damages he claims?
Answer: No.
7. If your answer to Queston No. 6 is Yes, then proceed to write the amount of damages you believe he proved at trial.
$--

Consequently, the district court entered judgment in favor of the Musas for $127,-000, the stipulated amount of noninventory damages.

INA appeals on the ground that the district court should have entered judgment n.o.v. in its favor 1) because it proved the Musas were involved in arson, or 2) because it proved they committed fraud in respect to their claim for loss of inventory. Jamal Musa cross-appeals, saying there is an inconsistency between the jury’s finding that INA is liable and its refusal to award any damages for lost inventory; he seeks a new trial limited to the amount of inventory damages. We shall consider these issues in turn.

II

We turn first to INA’s claim that the district court should have directed in its favor a verdict that the Musas committed arson. As INA recognizes, it bears a heavy burden in asking us to insist that the district court reverse the jury’s findings on a matter of fact. When we review the denial of a motion for a directed verdict or judgment n.o.v., we view the evidence and draw related factual inferences in the manner most favorable to the verdict winner (here, the Musas). See, e.g., Borras v. Sea-Land Service, Inc., 586 F.2d 881, 885 (1st Cir.1978). In doing so, we must recognize that it is for jurors, not judges, to weigh the evidence and determine the credibility of witnesses. See, e.g., Hubbard v. Faros Fisheries, Inc., 626 F.2d 196, 199 (1st Cir.1980); Rios v. Empresas Lineas Marítimas Argentinas, 575 F.2d 986, 990 (1st Cir.1978). Ultimately, we must uphold the jury’s verdict unless the evidence and accompanying inferences “point so strongly and overwhelmingly in favor of the movant that a reasonable jury could not have arrived at [the] conclusion” actually reached. Chedd-Angier Production Co. v. Omni Publications International, Ltd., 756 F.2d 930, 934 (1st Cir.1985); see deMars v. Equitable Life Assurance Society of United States, 610 F.2d 55, 57 (1st Cir.1979). Where the jury’s factual conclusion itself takes the form “The plaintiff failed to prove ...,” it is particularly difficult for a court to say the jury was wrong; thus, we are especially reluctant to require a directed verdict or the entry of judgment n.o.v. in favor of a party with the burden of persuasion. See Jordan v. United States Lines, Inc., 738 F.2d 48, 49 (1st Cir.1984) (party with burden of persuasion can obtain directed verdict only where he has established his case by “testimony that the jury is not at liberty to disbelieve”); Mann v. Cannon, 731 F.2d 54, 55 (1st Cir.1984); Service Auto Supply Co. v. Harte & Co., 533 F.2d 23, 24-25 (1st Cir.1976); Federal Insurance Co. v. Summers, 403 F.2d 971, 975-76 (1st Cir.1968); Roche v. New Hampshire National Bank, 192 F.2d 203 (1st Cir.1951); 9 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 2535, at 591 (1971).

INA nonetheless believes it has met these stringent standards. And, we must admit that its evidence, much of it consisting of the Musas’ own testimony, is strong. First, the evidence showed a motive to set the fire — namely, money. Jamal Musa, who owned the burned store, testified that he owed $1 million at the time of the fire. His accountant stated that, as of a few months before the fire, Jamal had overdrawn his checking account by $652,000. Jamal owed his brother Hassan $58,000, and he also owed money to his landlord. [373]

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Bluebook (online)
785 F.2d 370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/insurance-co-of-north-america-v-musa-ca1-1986.