Grace K. Vannoy v. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, a Corporation

In a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Montana, appellee was awarded damages in the sum of $75,000.00 against appellant railroad company for injuries she received while a passenger on the railroad, which injuries aggravated her prior spinal condition.

In a motion for a new trial appellant alleged that the court had erred in giving instructions on “punitive and exemplary damages” and that the verdict was excessive because the jury had not followed the court’s instructions in reference to nonliability “for pre-existing conditions or illnesses.”

The district judge denied the motion, holding that the verdict was not excessive and that appellant’s contention that the jury was influenced to increase their verdict for general damages by the instructions on punitive damages was speculation. We affirm.

“The power of a court of appeal to review the granting or denying of a new trial for excessive or inadequate verdicts or on the ground the verdict is against the weight of the evidence, is not as broad as that of the trial court in granting or denying the motion for a new trial in the first instance.” Simpson v. Union Oil Co. of California, 411 F.2d 897,…