ROBERTS, J., for the Court:
¶ 1. On May 8, 2005, Patricia Walters was involved in an accident while she was a passenger on an utility terrain vehicle (UTV), specifically a Yamaha Rhino (Rhino), driven by Joel Cummings, who was nine years old at the time. Walters, who was forty-two years old at the time of the accident, suffered extensive injuries as a result of the accident, and she incurred medical bills totaling approximately $177,447. She subsequently filed suit against "T & R Farms, a partnership consisting of Tracey Davis and Randy Davis; [and] Randy Davis."
¶ 2. A trial on the merits of the case was held on May 12-13, 2008, in the Circuit Court of Tallahatchie County. The jury returned a verdict that assessed comparative
¶ 3. After careful examination of the record before this Court, as well as the supreme court's holding in Dedeaux v. Pellerin Laundry, Inc., 947 So.2d 900 (Miss. 2007) and this Court's decision in Henson v. Riggenbach, 982 So.2d 432 (Miss.Ct.App. 2007), we find that a new trial on damages must be held prior to an appellate court gaining jurisdiction of this matter. Because the requisite new trial did not occur, this Court must dismiss Davis's appeal and remand this case to the trial court for a new trial on damages.
¶ 4. For purposes of the resolution of this case at the appellate level at this point in time, the substantive facts surrounding the accident are of small import. However, we will briefly recite them to give context to the case as a whole. Davis, and his wife, Ann, live in Tippo, Mississippi, where Davis operates a farm with his brother on the land that surrounds Davis's home. On May 8, 2005, Ann invited Walters to come to the Davis home to socialize. Additionally, Ann's sister, Nanette Langkawel, and Cummings, Langkawel's son, as well as other individuals, were present at the Davis home on the eighth of May, celebrating Mother's Day.
¶ 5. There is contradictory testimony in the record as to the timing of the following events; however, in general, the actions that led up to the accident were as follows: After driving his daughter and other individuals around his property, Davis and Cummings rode on the Rhino. Davis allowed Cummings to drive and instructed him on the basic operation of the UTV. At some point in time after Cummings was taught how to operate the Rhino, he began driving other individuals, including Walters, around the Davis property and surrounding farm land. During Walters's second ride on the Rhino, the UTV rolled over while Cummings was turning and caused extensive damage to Walters's right arm and hand that required several operations which continued up to and after the date of trial. The parties stipulated at trial that Walters had incurred $177,447 in medical expenses arising from the injury to her right arm and hand. Specifically, one of her fingers had to be amputated, and she had permanent scarring, disfigurement, and disability.
¶ 6. Walters filed her complaint on January 3, 2006, alleging that her injuries were proximately caused by Davis's negligent entrustment of the Rhino to Cummings. A trial on the matter was held on May 12-13, 2008. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned a verdict initially apportioning liability of 20% to Davis and 80% against Walters and awarded $0 in damages. The trial court determined the verdict to be inconsistent and instructed the jury to return a verdict that would fairly and adequately compensate Walters for her injuries. Thereafter, the jury returned a verdict with the same apportionment of fault but set Walters's total damages at $3,797.92. This verdict was either a unanimous verdict of all twelve jurors or,
¶ 7. In his brief to this Court, Davis raises issues surrounding whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying Davis's motion for a JNOV and other substantive issues related to the trial. However, given the procedural posture of this case, we are only able to address a singular issue, which was not raised by either party, as we lack the jurisdiction required to further examine the issues presented by the parties.
¶ 8. Given our disposition of this case, we find that it would be helpful to revisit and expand the procedural history that led this appeal to find its way to this Court. The case was tried before a jury on May 12-13, 2008. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned a verdict assessing 80% fault to Walters and 20% fault to Davis, as well as a total monetary judgment of $3,797.92. On June 10, 2008, Walters subsequently filed a motion for a new trial on damages and/or additur. She alternatively filed a motion for a new trial. Additionally, on June 10, 2008, Davis filed a motion for a JNOV. Eight days later on June 18, 2008, Davis filed his response to Walters's motion for an additur. This was followed by Walters filing a response to Davis's motion for a JNOV on June 23, 2008, and a reply to Davis's response to her motion for an additur on June 25, 2008.
¶ 9. A hearing was held on all outstanding post-trial motions on July 28, 2008. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court granted an additur and rejected Walters's request for a new trial. Additionally, the trial court specifically rejected Davis's motion for a JNOV. In granting the additur, the trial court ordered Davis to pay an additional amount that would bring the total monetary judgment against him to $3,797.92, which was the original total award of the jury. The trial court entered the order granting the additur for July 28, 2008, nunc pro tunc on January 28, 2009, and the order was actually filed on February 5, 2009. Walters filed a notice of rejection of the proposed additur and motion for new trial on damages on February 6, 2009. Following Walters's rejection of the additur on February 11, 2009, Davis filed his acceptance of the trial court's proposed additur. Almost two weeks later, on February 24, 2009, Davis filed his notice of appeal from the trial court's oral denial of his motion for a JNOV, and he stated that the notice shall take effect upon disposition of the motion. On April 15, 2009, the trial court entered a formal order denying the motion for a JNOV.
¶ 11. In reaching its holding, the supreme court stated:
Id. at 908-09 (¶¶ 16, 18). In reaching its holding, the supreme court implicitly identified the overall goal of additurs and remittiturs—fairness. Article 3, section 31 of the Mississippi Constitution provides that "[t]he right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate." However, any court of record may suggest an additur or remittitur if it finds that a trier of fact's award of damages was "influenced by bias, prejudice, or passion, or that the damages awarded were contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence." Miss.Code Ann. § 11-1-55 (Rev.2002). A grant of an additur or remittitur requires a finding by
¶ 12. Soon after the supreme court handed down its decision in Pellerin Laundry, this Court interpreted the language in Pellerin Laundry to arrive at our holding in Henson. In that case, the trial court bifurcated a personal-injury case, having the jury first consider the liability and compensatory-damages issues, then trying the issue of punitive damages. Henson, 982 So.2d at 433 (¶ 6). The jury found for William and Teresa Riggenbach and awarded only compensatory damages, and the trial court entered its judgment consistent with the jury's findings. Id. at 433-34 (¶¶ 6-7). Subsequently, the Riggenbachs filed a motion for additur or, alternatively, a new trial. Id. at 434 (¶ 8). The trial court granted both an additur and a new trial in the event the additur was not accepted by all parties. Id. The Riggenbachs accepted the additur; however, the defendants, Dewayne Henson and AXA Re Property and Casualty Insurance Company, did not. Id. They appealed claiming that the trial court had abused its discretion when it granted the motion for additur. Id.
¶ 13. After discussing and analyzing the supreme court's decision in Pellerin Laundry, this Court dismissed Henson's and AXA's appeal and remanded the case to the trial court for a new trial on damages. In doing so we stated, "[b]ecause [a] new trial on damages has yet to occur, there has been no final judgment. As such, this matter is not ripe for appellate review." Id. at 436 (¶ 15). The same result must occur in this case.
¶ 14. As we stated in Henson, the granting of a motion for a new trial by a trial court is not a final judgment from which an appeal may ordinarily be taken. Henson, 982 So.2d at 435-36 (¶ 15) (citing Maxwell v. Illinois, C.G. R.R., 513 So.2d 901, 908 (Miss.1987)); see also Street v. Lokey, 209 Miss. 412, 413, 47 So.2d 816, 816 (1950) (stating that "[t]his Court therefore has no jurisdiction of an appeal sought to be presented directly from an order of the circuit court granting a new trial"). In the case before us, once the jury returned its verdict, Walters moved the court for an additur or, alternatively, a new trial on damages. The trial court granted the additur, which Davis accepted. However, Walters specifically rejected the trial court's additur and again requested a new trial on damages. As per the supreme court's mandate in Pellerin Laundry, Walters's timely request for a new trial on damages following her rejection of the proposed additur left the trial court with no option other than to grant the request and schedule a new trial on damages. As such, this Court does not have jurisdiction to hear this case as it is not ripe for appellate review. There simply is not, and cannot
¶ 15. As we are remanding this case to the trial court for a trial on damages consistent with Pellerin Laundry, we will take this opportunity to add what we hope will aid trial courts when confronted with procedural issues surrounding additurs and remittiturs in the future. At this point, it would be helpful to review the pertinent language from Pellerin Laundry once more. The supreme court stated:
Pellerin Laundry, 947 So.2d at 908-09 (¶¶ 16, 18).
¶ 16. Given this conditional grant of a new trial on damages, once a motion for additur or remittitur or, alternatively, a new trial on damages has been granted, the trial court would do well to require all parties to submit a written acceptance or rejection of the additur or remittitur within a specified, brief period of time. Additionally, to avoid certain procedural and jurisdictional pitfalls inherent in this practice, a trial court that grants an additur or remittitur should defer its rulings on any other dispositive post-trial motions until all parties have either accepted or rejected the proposed additur or remittitur. Failure to do so could create a procedural quagmire. As in this case, if the trial court denies the motion for a JNOV before the rejection of the suggested additur and the affected party files a notice of appeal, it would appear that the trial court has been stripped of the jurisdiction it requires to fulfill the mandate of Pellerin Laundry,
¶ 17. A prime example is situated in the procedural facts of this case. The comment to Rule 4(d) of the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure states that: "A notice [of appeal] filed before the filing of [a motion for a JNOV] or after the filing of a motion but before its disposition is, in effect, suspended until the motion's disposition, whereupon the previously filed notice effectively places jurisdiction in the Supreme Court." M.R.A.P. 4(d) cmt. In the instant case, when the trial court denied Davis's motion for a JNOV, it appeared as if it initiated a chain of events that would eventually preclude the trial court from holding the required new trial on damages, placing the trial court between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
¶ 18. Davis filed his notice of appeal after the trial court's oral pronouncement of its denial of his motion for a JNOV on July 28, 2008, but before the formal entry of an order of denial on April 15, 2009. Ordinarily, this would remove jurisdiction from the trial court and place it at the appellate level, as indicated by the comment to Rule 4(d). Thus, from the trial court's point of view, it no longer had jurisdiction to commence the new trial on damages required by Pellerin Laundry as the notice of appeal vested jurisdiction of the case in the supreme court. However, in this case, the trial court never lost jurisdiction. Rule 50(c) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure allows a trial court to simultaneously rule on a motion for new trial and a motion for a JNOV, which is essentially what the trial court did here. M.R.C.P. 50(c). The comment to Rule 50 specifies that when a trial court grants a motion for new trial but denies a motion for a JNOV, it is not appealable "and the new trial will proceed." Id. cmt. As the trial court's grant of an additur also acted as a conditional grant of Walters's request for a new trial, assuming either party rejected it, the trial court's denial of Davis's motion for a JNOV was not an appealable order. Thus, while it may have appeared that Davis was free to appeal the trial court's denial of his motion for a JNOV as a "final order," such was not the case.
¶ 19. Finally, our holding today does not preclude an affected party from preserving his position that the trial court erred in granting an additur or remittitur or a new trial on damages. If a party also requested a new trial on damages, once this trial of right on damages has been conducted, any affected party who has not yet had an opportunity to appeal the trial court's grant of an additur or remittitur may appeal that decision. Henson, 982 So.2d at 435 n. 3. Therefore, we dismiss Davis's appeal without prejudice as we lack the jurisdiction required to proceed given that the trial court has yet to conduct the requisite new trial on damages.
¶ 20.
KING, C.J., LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., GRIFFIS, ISHEE AND MAXWELL, JJ., CONCUR. IRVING, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY BARNES, J.
IRVING, J., dissenting:
¶ 21. The majority, relying on Dedeaux v. Pellerin Laundry, Inc., 947 So.2d 900
¶ 22. As stated by the majority, the jury determined that Walters suffered damages in the amount of $3,797.92. The jury also determined that Walters was eighty percent at fault and that Davis was twenty percent at fault. Therefore, the trial court entered a final judgment on June 5, 2008, awarding Walters $759.58 in damages, this amount being twenty percent of $3,797.92. On June 10, 2008, Walters filed a motion for a new trial on damages and/or additur and, in the alternative, a motion for a new trial on the merits. On the same date, Davis filed a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict. On February 5, 2009, the trial court entered an order denying Walters's motion for a new trial on damages but granted her motion for an additur in the amount of $3,038.34.
¶ 23. It is important for purposes of our analysis to keep in mind that the trial court specifically denied Walters's motion for a new trial on damages. While Walters also requested, in the alternative, that she be granted a new trial, the trial court's February 5, 2009, order denying Walters's motion for a new trial on damages and granting her an additur did not mention her alternative motion for a new trial on the merits. Walters never brought to the trial court's attention that it had not ruled on her motion for a new trial on the merits. Indeed, she coupled her notice of rejection of additur with a motion for a trial setting for a new trial on damages. As noted, on February 5, 2009, the trial court denied Walters's motion for a new trial on damages as not being well taken.
¶ 24. Key to the proper disposition of today's issue is a correct construction of the following language from Pellerin Laundry:
Pellerin Laundry, 947 So.2d at 908-09 (¶ 16) (emphasis added).
¶ 25. The majority, relying on a different portion of Pellerin Laundry, construes Pellerin Laundry as precluding the immediate right of appeal to either party when one party has refused to accept the additur or remittitur. In my view, this construction is contrary to the plain and clear language of the passage quoted above. After announcing the procedure to be followed, the Pellerin Laundry court, immediately before the conclusion, stated:
Id. at 909 (¶ 18).
¶ 26. It is clear to me from the above passage that the Pellerin Laundry court was not altering the procedure which it had pronounced earlier in paragraph sixteen. As stated, if all parties do not agree to the additur or the remittitur, the procedure grants each party the right to either demand a new trial on damages, or appeal the order asserting an abuse of discretion on the part of the trial judge.
¶ 27. Here, Walters rejected the additur, but Davis accepted it. Walters demanded a new trial on damages, but the trial judge denied the motion. In my view, there was nothing more that either of the parties could have done but appeal. I note that Walters has not filed an appeal. Therefore, the sole issues before this Court are those that have been put forth by Davis: whether the trial court erred in denying his motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and whether the trial court erred in instructing the jury on both negligence and wilfulness/wantonness.
¶ 28. In my view, the trial court erred as to both issues. However, since I believe the evidence fails to show any negligence on the part of Davis, I would reverse and render. The facts, as set forth by the majority, are adequate except it should be stated that there is no credible evidence that Davis instructed his nine-year-old nephew Joel Cummings to take
¶ 29. For the reasons presented, I would reverse and render the judgment of the trial court.
BARNES, J., JOINS THIS OPINION.