McDonnell v. Pescadero & San Mateo Stage Co.
McDonnell v. Pescadero & San Mateo Stage Co.
Opinion of the Court
Action for personal injury resulting from the capsizing of a stagecoach in which plaintiff was a passenger. Trial by jury and verdict in favor of plaintiff for $2,000. Judgment was entered accordingly, with costs taxed at $121. At the hearing of defendants’ motion for a new trial, the court made an order that if plaintiff would accept $1,621 in full settlement of the judgment the motion for new trial would be denied, otherwise it would be granted. Plaintiff gave notice of acceptance, and the motion was denied. From the judgment and order - .denying new trial this appeal is proseeuted-hy billhfiieeprions.
ff’he only question presented relates to the alleged *miscondtípt of the jury in arriving at a verdict. In support of defendants’ motion their counsel made affidavit,' on information ilBd belief, in which it is stated that the5 jurymen agreed to be governed by the quotient resulting from, the addition of each juror’s estimate of the damage, and diviSieg^-thg— total sum by twelve; that dhis - quotient was $l,891f; that when it was found that the quotient was not a round sum “it was suggested that it would De-brtíerHiRéer -thelr-ynevieus agreement, to insert an sven sum, to wit, $2,000, as the verdict instead of such quotient, which suggestion was, without further consideration o:r discussion of the case, adopted and a verdict so rendered”;
If we were at liberty to accept the affidavit of defendants’ counsel and reject the affidavits of the two jurymen in support of the verdict, we would unhesitatingly decide that the verdict was
We think the trial judge was justified in accepting the statements of jurymen, made under oath, against those of jurymen who were unwilling to either state the facts under oath or to allow their identity to be disclosed. The exhibits attached to defendants’ affidavits show nothing that is not admitted by the two jurymen who made affidavit, and they satisfactorily explained the use made of the tables of figures disclosed in the exhibits.
We discover no error, and therefore recommend that the judgment and order be affirmed.
Haynes, C., and Belcher, C., concurred.
For the reasons given in the foregoing opinion the judgment and order are affirmed.
Harrison, J., Garoutte, J., Van Fleet, J.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MARY McDONNELL v. PESCADERO AND SAN MATEO STAGE COMPANY
- Cited By
- 12 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- New Triad—Misconduct of Jury—Chance Verdict.—On a motion for a new trial in an action to recover damages for personal injuries, a prima facie showing that a verdict in favor of the plaintiff was arrived at by a resort to chance is made by an affidavit of defendant’s counsel, based upon information from several of the jurors not named, who declined to make affidavit thereto, that the jurymen agreed to be governed by the quotient arising from the addition of each juror’s estimate of the damages, and dividing the total by twelve, and the quotient being fractional, they then, without further deliberation, adopted and inserted an even sum, in connection with further affidavits showing the finding of slips of paper in the jury-room indicating such addition and division. Id.—Rebutting Affidavits of Jurors.—The prima facie showing thus made is overcome by the counter-affidavits of two of the jurors in support of the verdict, showing that there was in fact no agreement to be governed by the addition and division made, after the balloting, but that it was done merely to ascertain the average, and was not to control the minds of the jurors nor to forestall their ultimate conclusion, and was merely a basis from which to work in their effort to reach a verdict, and that the verdict finally reached was found only after consultation and deliberation, and not in accordance with any previous agreement; and the trial judge was justified in accepting their statements under oath, against those of jurymen who were unwilling either to state the facts under .oath, or to allow their identity to be disclosed.