Opinion
June 12, 1995
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Gerard, J.).
Ordered that the order is reversed, on the law and the facts, with costs, the motion is denied, the verdict is reinstated, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Suffolk County, for a trial on the issue of damages.
This action arose from an automobile accident involving a vehicle operated by the defendant third-party plaintiff Denise Mills and a vehicle operated by the third-party defendant Felicia Alterescu in which the plaintiff Roslyn Alterescu was a passenger. After a trial on the issue of liability, the jury found Mills 20% at fault and Felicia Alterescu 80% at fault in the happening of the accident. The trial court granted Felicia Alterescu's motion to set aside the verdict as against the weight of the evidence and ordered a new trial. We reverse.
The jury was presented with conflicting testimony as to how the accident occurred and the resolution of that conflicting evidence was part of its fact-finding function (see, Salazar v. Fisher, 147 A.D.2d 470, 471; Albero v. Rogers, 143 A.D.2d 246, 247). A fair interpretation of the evidence supports the jury's apportionment of liability, and consequently its verdict should not be disturbed (see, Salazar v. Fisher, supra; Delgado v. Board of Educ., 65 A.D.2d 547, affd 48 N.Y.2d 643). Balletta, J.P., Copertino, Altman and Goldstein, JJ., concur.