Matthies

Velma Lee Matthies, plaintiff below, appeals from a judgment in her favor for personal injuries, following a jury verdict for $2,500. She contends that the verdict was unsupported by the evidence and that it was based on erroneous instructions. The trial was restricted to the issue of damages, the jury being instructed to find in favor of plaintiff on the issue of liability.

A car being driven by plaintiff, while temporarily stopped in traffic, was struck in the rear by a panel truck, which in turn had been rammed by a truck operated by defendants. She told defendant driver and the police that she was not hurt and mentioned no injuries whatever. She then drove home in her car.

At the trial there was substantial evidence indicating plaintiff had, following the accident, suffered from a sprained cervical spine with possible dislocation and “tiny” fracture, and right knee trouble, and that these injuries were attended by pain, physical discomfort and general poor health. However, there was substantial evidence that before the accident she had also suffered from back pain, a right knee injury, *204 heart, abdominal, and head pain, and poor health. A theory of plaintiff was that her…