Yegan
VENTURA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – A $30 million verdict in noneconomic damages is a miscarriage of justice, a California appeals court has ruled.
The Second Appellate District’s Jan. 20 decision vacates the verdict and sends the lawsuit over a fatal car accident back to Ventura County Superior Court for a new trial limited to determining a new amount.
The trial court erred when it excluded evidence of the comparative fault of defendants that settled before trial.
“(N)o substantial evidence appears to support the amount of the damages award, an amount that shocks the conscience and appears to have been influenced by the misconduct and improper argument of respondents’ counsel,” Justice Kenneth Yegan wrote.