Bigboy

This appeal concerns statutory limits on the trial judge’s discretion to issue a conditional new trial order based on his personal opinion the damages were excessive.

Facts

Dana Lee Bigboy, age 17, was rendered a paraplegic when the car in which he was a passenger skidded off the outside of a curve and down a steep embankment. A lawsuit was filed naming the County of San Diego (County) and the driver of the car as defendants. After trial lasting over one month, a mistrial was declared because the jury could not reach a verdict on the liability of the driver. In the second trial the issue of the driver’s liability was severed and the trial proceeded on the issue of the County’s liability.

The County owned and maintained the road. Its liability was clear. The curve was known to be dangerous. In the four years before this accident at least fifteen accidents had occurred at the same location. Thirteen of those accidents were from the same lane, seven at night, and of the nine injuries involved, one was a fatality. In the earlier lawsuit the County engineer had been deposed and testified to elements which would make the County aware of the location and the dangerousness of…