John L. Miller v. Scott D. Williams

970 S.W.2d 497, 1998 Tenn. App. LEXIS 84
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedFebruary 5, 1998
Docket03A01-9707-CV-00270
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 970 S.W.2d 497 (John L. Miller v. Scott D. Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John L. Miller v. Scott D. Williams, 970 S.W.2d 497, 1998 Tenn. App. LEXIS 84 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION

SUSANO, Judge.

This appeal questions the adequacy of a jury's verdict. The plaintiff, John L. Miller (“Miller”) 1 , alleged in his complaint that he sustained physical and emotional injuries and medical expenses when his automobile was struck from behind by a vehicle driven by the defendant, Scott D. Williams (“Williams”). 2 After Williams admitted liability at trial, the jury awarded Miller damages of $45,000. Miller then filed a motion for an additur or a new trial. The trial court denied his motion, and this appeal followed. The sole issue 3 on this appeal is whether the trial court erred in failing to suggest an additur or grant a new trial due to the alleged inadequacy of the jury’s award.

I

In this ease, we must decide if the record contains “material evidence to support the [jury’s] verdict.” Rule 13(d), T.R.A.P.; Coffey v. Fayette Tubular Products, 929 S.W.2d 326, 331 n. 2 (Tenn.1996); Poole v. Kroger Co., 604 S.W.2d 52, 54 (Tenn.1980); Pettus v. Hurst, 882 S.W.2d 783, 788 (Tenn.App.1993); Benson v. Tennessee Valley Elec. Coop., 868 S.W.2d 630, 640 (Tenn.App.1993). Because Miller asserts that the jury’s award is insufficient, our focus is on the “lower limit” of the “range of reasonableness.” Foster v. Amcon Int’l, Inc., 621 S.W.2d 142, 146 (Tenn.1981). In the Foster case, the Supreme Court stated that

[a] reasoned examination of the credible proof of damages leads to a determination of the figure beyond which excessiveness or inadequacy lies and beyond which there is no evidence, upon any reasonable view of the case, to support the verdict.

Id. In reviewing the adequacy of the jury’s award, we note that

[the determination of] the amount of compensation in a personal injury case is primarily for the jury, and that next to the jury, the most competent person to pass on the matter is the trial judge who presided at the trial and heard the evidence.

Id. at 143-44; Coffey, 929 S.W.2d at 331 n. 2.

The effect of a trial court’s approval of the amount of a jury award is clear:

... the trial judge’s approval of the amount of the jury’s verdict invokes the material evidence rule, just as it does with respect to all other factual issues upon which appellate review is sought....
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“[a]ll of the evidence in the record that tends to support the amount of the verdict should be given full faith and credit upon appellate review.”

Poole, 604 S.W.2d at 54 (citing Ellis v. White Freightliner Corp., 603 S.W.2d 125 (Tenn.1980)). Thus, our analysis is limited to a determination of whether the record reflects material evidence demonstrating that the jury’s award is “at or above the lower limit of the range of reasonableness, giving full faith and credit to all of the evidence that tends to support that amount.” Poole, 604 S.W.2d at 54. We are required to take the strongest legitimate view of all the evidence, including all reasonable inferences therefrom, to sustain the verdict; to assume the truth of all the evidence that supports it; and to discard all evidence to the contrary. Id. In this analysis, we do not weigh the evidence, nor *499 do we determine the credibility of the witnesses. Id.

II

The facts relative to the accident itself are not in dispute. On April 4, 1995, as Miller was stopped at a traffic light, his vehicle was struck from behind by Williams’ vehicle, causing Miller’s vehicle to collide with a van in front of him. Williams admitted that the accident was his fault and stipulated to liability at trial.

Although Miller was awake and alert at the scene of the accident, he was transported to the hospital by ambulance. Among other things, he was treated for dizziness and pain in his back, neck, and right knee. Miller was released from the hospital after two and a half days.

Prior to the accident, Miller had suffered from various neck, back and knee problems. The record indicates that between August, 1988, and the time of the accident, he was treated by several physicians for these problems. Miller had also been involved in a previous automobile accident in April of 1994, causing him to seek treatment for neck and shoulder pain. Furthermore, Miller had complained to a physician in January, 1995, of pain in his right knee, approximately three months before the accident.

The parties present competing theories regarding the relationship of Miller’s pre-exist-ing conditions to the injuries he sustained in the April, 1995, accident. Miller contends that the accident caused new injuries and substantial aggravation of his pre-existing conditions. He insists that the jury’s verdict is grossly inadequate to compensate him for his pain, suffering and medical expenses. Williams, on the other hand, argues that Miller’s pre-existing neck, back and knee problems were extensive. He maintains that the jury correctly determined that the aggravation caused by the accident was less severe than Miller claimed.

Following his release from the hospital, Miller received treatment from a chiropractor, Dr. Ronald Mabry. He later was treated by a medical doctor, Dr. Gilbert Hyde, who performed surgery on Miller’s knee. In May, 1995, Miller began seeing another physician, Dr. John Purvis, for back, neck and arm pain. He also began complaining of pain in his hands. Dr. Marvin Cohn, who also treated Miller, testified that the pain in Miller’s hands was not directly related to the accident, but instead was a result of arthritis that Miller had experienced for several years. Following further treatment, Dr. Ma-bry and Dr. Hyde subsequently informed Miller that he could return to work. However, Miller was involved in another automobile accident in December, 1995. Subsequent to the December, 1995, accident, Dr. Purvis performed neck surgery on Miller.

At trial, each side submitted material evidence in support of its position. Miller introduced medical bills in the aggregate amount of $44,585.42. He also offered the testimony of his physicians in support of his contention that the accident had severely aggravated his pre-existing medical conditions. Williams, on the other hand, presented evidence indicating that much of Miller’s pain and suffering resulted from conditions that pre-dated the accident and that the extent of the injuries that actually resulted from the accident was not very severe.

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Bluebook (online)
970 S.W.2d 497, 1998 Tenn. App. LEXIS 84, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-l-miller-v-scott-d-williams-tennctapp-1998.