Wallace

Wallace v. George E. Failing Co.

Good Law
81 F. App'x 922
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitNovember 20, 2003No. 02-35513California226 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM *

The district court acted within its discretion in denying appellant George E. Failing Company’s (“GEFCO”) motion for new trial or, in the alternative, motion for remittitur. Both sides presented credible evidence on the mitigation issue. The jury weighed the evidence and rendered a verdict in favor of the Wallaces. Under these circumstances, the district court’s denial of a new trial is virtually unassailable. See George v. City of Long Beach, 973 F.2d 706, 709 (9th Cir.1992). The jury carefully considered the evidence offered by both sides as reflected by the size of the award, which was considerably less than the highest amount endorsed by the Wallaces’ experts. The fact that the jury gave less credence to the testimony offered by GEF-CO’s expert did not render the damages award “grossly excessive or monstrous.” See Hemmings v. Tidyman’s Inc., 285 F.3d 1174 , 1192 (9th Cir.2002).

The district court similarly acted within its discretion when it admitted into evidence the damage estimates calculated by the Wallaces’ experts. See id. at 1183. An expert’s alleged failure to consider all *923 possible variables goes to the weight of the expert evidence and not its…

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