United Farm Workers of America v. Superior Court

Petitioner seeks a writ of mandate directing respondent court to vacate its order declaring a mistrial and to enter judgment on the verdict reached by the jury, and in the alternative, a writ of prohibition to prevent respondent from proceeding with a new trial of the action.

Petitioner United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO, is the defendant in an action for personal injuries pending in the superior court; real party in interest, Jose Homen, is the plaintiff. Petitioner alleges that Merced County Superior Court action No. 48804 was tried before a jury beginning March 4, 1980, and on March 13, 1980, the jury returned a verdict finding that the negligence óf both plaintiff and defendant had proximately caused plaintiff’s injuries. The jury found that plaintiff was 90 percent at fault and defendant 10 percent at fault, and determined the total damages to be $70,000.

The jury was polled at defendant’s request; the results of the poll showed that nine jurors found that defendant’s negligence contributed to plaintiff’s injury, nine jurors found plaintiff’s negligence contributed to his injury, all jurors agreed that plaintiff suffered $70,000 in damages, and eleven jurors…