motion for new trial
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 311 U.S. 243 - Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Duncan · 1940Most cited · 1,567 citing opinions
The motion for a new trial may invoke the discretion of the court in so far as it is bottomed on the claim that the verdict is against the weight of the evidence, that the damages are excessive, or that, for other reasons, the trial was not fair to the party moving; and may raise questions of law arising out of alleged substantial errors in admission or rejection of evidence or instructions to the jury.
How the Supreme Court has restated “motion for new trial”
Each Supreme Court definition of “motion for new trial,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “motion for new trial”
Court decisions citing the 4 opinions that defined “motion for new trial” — 1,788 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 4 definitions, chronological · 1821–1940
- ORIGINAL
A motion for a new trial is not a part of the proceedings in the cause. It is an application to the discretion of the Court, founded on evidence which the Court has heard, and which may make an impression not always to be communicated by a statement of that evidence. A division of opinion is a rejection of the motion, and the verdict stands.
not a question of certifiable division
A motion for a new trial, being an appeal to the discretion of the court in which the trial has taken place, the action of that court in overruling it is not reviewable in error.
where a motion for a new trial in a court of law, or a petition for a rehearing in a court of equity, is duly and seasonably filed, it suspends the running of the time for taking a writ of error or an appeal, and that the time within which the proceeding to review must be initiated begins from the date of the denial of either the motion or petition
suspension of appeal period