PICKMAN 14 v. MUSCLOW (1998)

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York.

Abbie PICKMAN, Individually and as Parent and Natural Guardian of Derrick Fuller, an Infant under the age of 14 years, Respondent, v. Kathleen Pickman MUSCLOW and Stephen J. Pickman, Appellants.

Decided: April 29, 1998

Before PINE, J.P., and HAYES, WISNER, PIGOTT and BOEHM, JJ.

Egger & Leegant (Jan P. Egger, of counsel), Rochester, for Appellants. Charles A. West, Jr., Rochester, for Respondent.

Supreme Court did not err in ordering a new trial after setting aside the verdict in this personal injury action (see, CPLR 4404[a] ). The jury found that plaintiff's three-year-old son did not sustain a significant disfiguring scar. The y-shaped scar on the child's forehead, however, is more than 3 1/212 inches in length and is the result of a deep laceration that required 40 to 50 stitches. While the scar may be realigned by surgery when the child is a teenager, it cannot be eliminated and will be noticeable for the rest of the child's life. The court properly concluded that “the evidence so preponderated in favor of [plaintiff] that the verdict could not have been reached on any fair interpretation of the evidence” (Petrivelli v. Walz, 227 A.D.2d 735, 642 N.Y.S.2d 348; see, Zulawski v. Zulawski, 170 A.D.2d 979, 566 N.Y.S.2d 141).

Order unanimously affirmed without costs.

MEMORANDUM:

Was this helpful?

Easy to understand

Solved my problem

Other

Missing the information I need

Too complicated / too many steps

Out of date

Other

Welcome to FindLaw's Cases & Codes

A free source of state and federal court opinions, state laws, and the United States Code. For more information about the legal concepts addressed by these cases and statutes visit FindLaw's Learn About the Law.

Go to Learn About the Law