Opinion
CA 03-01588.
February 11, 2004.
Appeal from an amended order of the Supreme Court, Monroe County (Evelyn Frazee, J.), entered May 8, 2003. The amended order granted plaintiffs' motion, set aside a jury verdict and ordered a new trial on the issues of causation and damages only.
EGGER LEEGANT, ROCHESTER (JO ANNE LEEGANT OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
CELLINO BARNES, P.C., ROCHESTER (CHRISTOPHER G. JOHNSON OF COUNSEL), FOR PLAINTIFFS-RESPONDENTS.
Before: PRESENT: PINE, J.P., WISNER, SCUDDER, KEHOE, AND HAYES, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
It is hereby ORDERED that the amended order so appealed from be and the same hereby is unanimously reversed on the law without costs, the motion is denied, and the verdict is reinstated.
Memorandum: Plaintiffs commenced this action to recover damages for injuries allegedly sustained by Linda M. Tracy (plaintiff) in an automobile accident. Plaintiffs seek recovery under three categories of serious injury based on plaintiff's alleged fractured teeth, hearing loss and tinnitus, and herniated disc. The jury returned a verdict in favor of defendant, finding that plaintiff did not sustain a serious injury. Plaintiffs moved for leave to renew their motion for a directed verdict on the issue of serious injury or, in the alternative, for a new trial on the ground that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. Supreme Court determined that plaintiff sustained a serious injury as a matter of law, and ordered a new trial on the issues of causation and damages only. We reverse.
Contrary to the court's conclusion, there is a "valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences that could . . . lead rational persons to the conclusion reached by the jury on the basis of the evidence presented at trial" ( Ruddock v. Happell, 307 A.D.2d 719, 720). Nor is the verdict against the weight of the evidence. The jury's finding that plaintiff did not sustain fractured teeth as a result of the accident is one that reasonably could have been rendered upon the conflicting evidence at trial ( see id.). The issue of causation was sharply in dispute ( cf. Gertis v. Jarosz, 284 A.D.2d 938), and the conflicting medical opinions of the experts raised issues of credibility for the jury to determine ( see Tanner v. Tundo, 309 A.D.2d 1244).
We also reject plaintiffs' further contention that the verdict is against the weight of the evidence with respect to plaintiff's additional injuries of hearing loss and tinnitus and a herniated disc. As with the dental fractures, there was equivocal testimony from plaintiffs' experts, as well as conflicting evidence from defendant's experts, whether those injuries were a result of the accident ( see Redmond v. Schultz, 152 A.D.2d 823, 824). In addition, there was conflicting evidence of "the extent or degree of [plaintiff's] physical limitation" resulting from the herniated disc ( Toure v. Avis Rent A Car Sys., 98 N.Y.2d 345, 350).
We therefore reverse the amended order, deny the motion, and reinstate the verdict.