Ruiz Troche v. Pepsi Cola of Puerto Rico Bottling Co.

177 F.R.D. 82, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19781, 1997 WL 764519
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedNovember 26, 1997
DocketNos. CIV. 93-2329 RLA, CIV. 93-2331 RLA, CIV. 93-2332 RLA
StatusPublished

This text of 177 F.R.D. 82 (Ruiz Troche v. Pepsi Cola of Puerto Rico Bottling Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ruiz Troche v. Pepsi Cola of Puerto Rico Bottling Co., 177 F.R.D. 82, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19781, 1997 WL 764519 (prd 1997).

Opinion

ORDER IN THE MATTER OF DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW, OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE, FOR NEW TRIAL

ACOSTA, Senior District Judge.

The Court has before it PEPSI defendants’ (PEPSI) motion for judgment as a matter of law, or in the alternative, for new trial (docket No. 312), filed on April 22, 1997.1

For the reasons set forth below, the Court hereby DENIES PEPSI’s requested relief in its entirety.

I. BACKGROUND

The claims asserted in these consolidated proceedings stem from a motor vehicle collision that occurred on Highway No. 165, in the vicinity of Toa Baja, P.R., on September 18, 1992, as a result of which six persons, including four children, were killed.

According to the record, on the afternoon of September 18,1992, YOLANDA RIVERA and her husband JULIO ELVIN RUIZ CINTRON picked up their minor children SHAKIRA and ELVIN from the house of her mother, MANUELA VAZQUEZ ORTIZ, as well as the three (3) minor children of DARMARIS ADORNO DAVILA and JOSE DAVID RIVERA, who were being cared for by MANUELA VAZQUEZ ORTIZ. All seven boarded a 1991 Toyota Tercel, driven by JULIO ELVIN RUIZ CINTRON. A short time later the Toyota collided head on with a tractor trailer truck hauling a Pepsi Cola container which was driven by JUAN HERNANDEZ ROSARIO, a member of the Cooperativa Los Vaqueros de Transporte y Car[85]*85ga. All individuals in the Toyota died except the minor SHAKIRA, who sustained serious injuries.

These consolidated proceedings include claims presented in Civil No. 93-2329, which was filed by the father, mother, and siblings of JULIO ELVIN RUIZ CINTRON; CM No. 93-2331, filed by JOSE DAVID RIVERA and his wife, DARMARIS ADORNO DAVILA, claiming their own pain and suffering as well as that of their three (3) children killed in the accident; and Civil No. 93-2332, filed by MANUELA VAZQUEZ ORTIZ seeking relief for the deaths of her daughter, son-in-law and grandson as well as for the pain and suffering associated with the injuries sustained by her granddaughter SHAKIRA. SHAKIRA also claims for her own injuries, the loss of both parents and brother and the inherited claims of her deceased mother and brother.

Named defendants in these actions are the driver, JUAN HERNANDEZ ROSARIO, and all entities having an interest in the truck and/or container and their respective insurers, i.e., Pepsi Cola of Puerto Rico Bottling Company (PEPSI), CIGNA Insurance Company of Puerto Rico (CIGNA), Vehicle Equipment Leasing, Inc. (VELCO), Cooperativa Los Vaqueros de Transporte y Carga, Puerto Rico Insurance Guaranty Association and Bansander Leasing (collectively PEPSI or PEPSI defendants). Defendants were jointly represented at trial by lead counsel for PEPSI, CIGNA and VELCO.

The jury found JULIO ELVIN RUIZ CINTRON, the driver of the Toyota, 59% responsible and HERNANDEZ ROSARIO, the truck driver, 41% responsible for the accident, and awarded the RIVERA ADORNOS over $6,000,000.00, and SHAKIRA and her surviving family approximately $5.7 million in damages.

II. PEPSI’S MOTIONS

PEPSI alleges that the jury verdict cannot stand for the following reasons. First, PEPSI alleges that plaintiffs failed to prove a breach of a duty or causation and that no evidence was produced to establish that the deceased victims realized that they were in imminent danger prior to the crash.

Second, PEPSI moves for a new trial asserting that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence and advances nineteen errors allegedly committed during trial.

Third, PEPSI moves to alter the judgment to reflect the relevant deductions in the claims due to the comparative negligence of the driver; to modify the compensatory awards of medication and medical treatment of DARMARIS ADORNO and JOSE D. RIVERA to comport with the trial evidence; and to reduce the award to SHAKIRA, DARMARIS and JOSE DAVID in accordance with the mandatory reductions of the Automobile Accident Social Protection Act, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 9, §§ 2051-2065, Act No. 138 of June 26,1968 (the Act).

Plaintiffs allege that PEPSI defaulted in its Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law because they failed to move for a directed verdict at the close of all the evidence. Plaintiffs also allege that SHAKIRA’s award cannot be reduced because defendants failed to produce any evidence establishing her receipt of benefits from the Automobile Accident Compensation Administration (AACA); that the award to SHAKIRA based on pain and suffering is subject only to one statutory reduction and that JOSE DAVID and DAR-MARIS’s moral damages award cannot be reduced because PEPSI failed to show that either of them were eligible to receive benefits from AACA

Finally, plaintiffs argue that the weight of the evidence supports the jury’s finding on negligence and its award for pain and suffering.

A. MOTION TO ALTER JUDGMENT

The issues raised in defendants’ motion to alter judgment have been discussed and ruled upon by the Court in its Order Amending Judgment issued via separate order on this day.

B. MOTION FOR JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW

Rule 50(b) of the Fed.R.Civ.P. provides that after the jury has returned a verdict, the Court may revisit a motion for judgment as a [86]*86matter of law submitted pursuant to Rule 50(a) made at the close of all the evidence. The party renewing a motion pursuant to Rule 50(b) “is required to have moved for judgment as a matter of law at the close of all the evidence.” Keisling v. SER-Jobs for Progress, Inc., 19 F.3d 755, 758 (1st Cir. 1994); accord, Jusino v. Zayas, 875 F.2d 986, 991 (1st Cir.1989).

“The purpose of the Rule 50(b) requirement is to alert the opposing party to the movant’s claim of insufficiency before the case goes to the jury, so that his opponent may possibly cure any deficiency in his case should the motion have merit, and also so that the judge may rule on the adequacy of the evidence without impinging on the jury’s fact-finding province.” Martínez Moll v. Levitt & Sons of P.R., Inc., 583 F.2d 565, 569 (1st Cir.1978). Accordingly, “[a] post trial motion for judgment can be granted only on grounds advanced in the pre-verdict motion.” Robles Vázquez v. Tirado García, 110 F.3d 204, 206 (1st Cir.1997) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b) advisory committee’s note to 1991 amendment); accord, Sánchez v. P.R. Oil Co., 37 F.3d 712, 723 (1st Cir.1994). Furthermore, the motion must include every claim upon which the party bases its request for judgment as a matter of law. Failure to do so is considered a “fatal omission.” Sánchez, 37 F.3d at 723.

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Bluebook (online)
177 F.R.D. 82, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19781, 1997 WL 764519, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ruiz-troche-v-pepsi-cola-of-puerto-rico-bottling-co-prd-1997.