James Kappauf, Respondent, v. KRIKORIAN (1999)

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendants appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Seidell, J.), dated January 22, 1998, which granted the plaintiff James Kappauf's motion pursuant to CPLR 4404 to set aside a jury verdict which is in favor of the defendants and against him on the issue of damages, and ordered a new trial on the issue of damages.

ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the jury verdict on damages is reinstated, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Suffolk County, for the entry of an appropriate judgment.

The plaintiffs commenced this action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained as a result of an automobile accident with the defendants on October 19, 1990.   A trial of the matter was held in October 1997.   Prior to the close of evidence, the Supreme Court directed a verdict in the plaintiffs' favor on the issue of liability and, with respect to the plaintiff James Kappauf, submitted only the question of damages to the jury in its charge and on the verdict sheet.   The jury found that Kappauf had sustained no compensable damages.   Subsequently, the Supreme Court granted Kappauf's posttrial motion to set aside the verdict as against the weight of the evidence.   We reverse.

On this record, “[i]t cannot be said that the jury's verdict of no damages was either without basis in fact or was palpably wrong” (Libman v. McKnight, 204 A.D.2d 856, 859, 612 N.Y.S.2d 454), or that the “evidence preponderates so heavily in [Kappauf's] favor that the verdict could not have been reached on any fair interpretation of the evidence” (Keegan v. Prout, 215 A.D.2d 629, 630, 628 N.Y.S.2d 124;  see also, Carotenuto v. Harran Transp. Co., 226 A.D.2d 334, 640 N.Y.S.2d 209;  Nelson v. Town of Glenville, 220 A.D.2d 955, 633 N.Y.S.2d 222;  Schwartz v. Cross Bay Excavators, 192 A.D.2d 593, 596 N.Y.S.2d 161).   Therefore, the trial court erred in setting aside the verdict and ordering a new trial on the issue of damages with respect to the plaintiff James Kappauf.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.