Reece

BACKGROUND

The paltry record on appeal relates to only a small portion of the factual and procedural background. From the record submitted by plaintiffs, we can discern that the complaint, filed in January 2011, stated claims for negligence and loss of consortium. The complaint was somewhat vague and confusing, but appeared to allege that, in January 2009, defendants were negligent in operating a motor vehicle and crashed into a vehicle driven by Barbara,1 who suffered physical injury and other damages. John consequently suffered loss of consortium. The parties’ appellate briefs state that defendants’ car was being driven by Mora and was owned by Vasquez. The case went to trial in September 2013. In a special verdict, the jury awarded no damages, finding that Mora’s negligence was not a substantial factor in causing harm to plaintiffs. Plaintiffs moved for new trial, arguing that the jury’s finding of no causation was unsupported by the evidence, and that defendants had conceded causation as to at least some of plaintiffs’ injuries. The trial court denied the motion on November 19, 2013. Plaintiffs timely appealed.

To avoid confusion, at times we refer to plaintiffs by…