Hamilton v. Knight
Hamilton v. Knight
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff, Lawrence F. Hamilton, brought suit against the defendant Dorothy E. Knight and others in the Circuit Court for Broward County, Florida, for injuries arising out of a motor vehicle accident on 23 October 1968 at the intersection of Poinsettia Street and Atlantic Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After a jury verdict for the plaintiff, the defendant Knight filed a motion pursuant to Rule 1.-480(b), FRCP, 30 F.S.A., for a judgment in accordance with a prior motion for directed verdict. The motion was granted and a judgment was entered for the defendants.
The issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in setting aside the jury verdict and granting the defendant’s post-trial motion for judgment. The rules governing the treatment of such a motion are set out in Landry v. Sterling Apartments, Inc., Fla.App.1969, 231 So.2d 225 (cert. den. Fla.1970, 238 So.2d 107), and need not be reiterated here.
The trial judge found on these facts that the defendant was as a matter of law free of negligence and the plaintiff was likewise guilty of negligence. Respectfully we disagree with the trial judge’s conclusion. In our opinion when the evidence is viewed most favorably to the plaintiff, it would have permitted an inference that the defendant actually knew or reasonably should have known of the plaintiff’s presence to her right and was negligent in failing to take precautions with respect to his safety before starting her turn to the west. Likewise, we think the jury could have inferred that the plaintiff was not negligent in using the partial lane available to him rather than changing lanes and falling in behind the defendant. For these reasons, the judgment appealed from is reversed and the cause is remanded with instructions to enter a judgment for the plaintiff on the jury verdict.
Reversed and remanded.
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