Martinides

After a jury trial, defendant/appellant Joda Mayer (defendant) was found liable for personal injuries suffered by plaintiff/appellant Karen Irene Martinides (plaintiff) when she was hit by a car. Defendant appeals, asserting the court erroneously allowed the jury to apply the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. Plaintiff appeals, contending the court erred when it conditionally granted defendant’s motion for a new trial unless plaintiff agreed to a reduction of the jury award from $3,868,332.75 to $2.5 million.

Facts

On August 5, 1979, around 9 p.m., plaintiff was visiting her mother-in-law when she went out to her car to get a blanket for her baby. Traffic was clear as she approached her parked car. As she arrived at the driver’s side door, she observed a car coming directly at her at an exceedingly high rate of speed. She “squished” as close as she could to her car, putting her hands over the top of it. The speeding vehicle crashed into her, carried her, then struck another parked car and finally deposited her under a third vehicle. Plaintiff recalled seeing two people in the car that hit her but remembers nothing else concerning the accident. After hitting the plaintiff,…