Wesley Edwards v. The Concord Condominium Association, Inc., and Nautilus Insurance Company

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT
WESLEY EDWARDS NO. 2019 CW 1017

VERSUS
THE CONCORD CONDOMINIUM SEPTEMBER 6, 2019
ASSOCIATION, INC., AND JOHN
DOE

In Re: The Concord Condominium Association, Inc, and Nautilus
Insurance Company, applying for supervisory writs,
19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton
Rouge, No. 638339.

BEFORE: McDONALD, THERIOT, AND CHUTZ, JJ.

WRIT GRANTED.The trial court's August 5, 2019 judgment
granting the plaintiff's motion for new trial is reversed. The
trial court abused its discretion in concluding that the jury
acted contrary to law. Louisiana law prohibits such attacks on
jury verdicts and bestows vast discretion upon the jury to
determine the amount of general damages that will compensate the
plaintiff for his injuries. See La. Code Evict. Art. 606(8),
which prohibits using juror affidavits or testimony to attack a
civil jury verdict absent a showing of an outside influence that
improperly influenced a juror. See also Mack v. Wiley, 2007-2344
(La. App. 1st Cir. 5/2/08), 991 So.2d 479, 490, writ denied,
2008-1181 (La. 9/19/08), 992 So.2d 932, ("Our jurisprudence has
consistently held that in the assessment of general damages,
much discretion is left to the jury... ") We reverse the trial
court's August 5, 2019 judgment and deny the plaintiff's motion
for new trial.

JMM
MRT
WRC

COURT OF APPEAL, ~IRST CIRCUIT

OF COURT
FOR THE COURT