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73 W. Va. 174

Devericks v. Fair Grounds Improvement Co.

West Virginia Supreme Court

Decided November 11, 1913

West Virginia Supreme Court · decided 1913-11-11

<p>Appeal and Ekror — Verdict—TSmáence.</p> <p>Where, on a motion to set aside a verdict, a conflict of oral testimony of witnesses in the presence of the jury is not alone involved, but conflicting oral testimony is on the one side so corroborated by documentary evidence, uncontroverted facts and circumstances, or some of these, as to show that the verdict is decidedly against the preponderance of the evidence, the court may properly set -aside the verdict and award a new trial.</p>

Relies on Coalmer v. Barrett

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Affirmed · Decided 1913-11-11

How this case has been cited

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently November 1959

6 state decisions

3019131920193019401950decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Robinson, Judge:

¶1The verdict of the jury was in plaintiff’s favor. On motion of defendant, the court set aside the same and awarded a new trial. Plaintiff, by ivrit of error, maintains that the verdict *175could not rightly be disturbed and that he should have had judgment thereon.

¶2We find no error in the order setting aside the verdict and awarding a new trial. The court did not invade the province ■of the jury in making the order. The case by no means turned wholly on conflicting oral testimony of witnesses in the presence of the jury. Strong documentary evidence, as well as some uncontroverted facts and circumstances, corroborate the oral testimony introduced on behalf of defendant. The court was within its province in adjudging that with this corroboration the evidence in the ease so preponderated in defendant’s favor as to negative right of recovery in plaintiff. The court was entitled to “go beyond the question of the credibility of the witnesses who gave conflicting oral evidence in the presence of the jury, and find documentary' evidence, uncontro-v.erted evidence, facts or circumstances, or some of these, which when considered with such conflicting oral evidence plainly constitute a decided weight and preponderance of evidence against the verdict.” Coalmer v. Barrett, 61 W. Va. 237.

¶3It is not essential to detail the character of the controversy or the particular facts in the case. It suffices to say that a review of the evidence discloses ample justification for the order setting aside the verdict. The evidence as a whole plainly preponderated in defendant’s favor. The verdict was .decidedly against the weight of the evidence. Though there was conflicting oral testimony of witnesses in the presence of the jury, yet on the side of defendant the conflict was settled by documentary evidence, uncontroverted facts and circumstances, which the jury could not disregard.

¶4The order complained of will be affirmed.

¶5Affirmed.

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