Can the Indiana Court of Appeals reverse a jury’s verdict based upon the amount of damages awarded?
The Indiana Appellate Courts apply a strict standard when reviewing a jury verdict containing a damage award claimed to be excessive or inadequate. The verdict will be reversed only when it is apparent from a review of the evidence that the amount of damages awarded by the jury is so small or so great as to clearly indicate that the jury was motivated by prejudice, passion, partiality, corruption or that it considered an improper element. The jury’s damage award will not be deemed the result of improper considerations if the size of the award can be explained on any reasonable ground.
Damages for pain and suffering are of necessity a jury question which may not be reduced to fixed rules and mathematical precision. Where, as here, the damages cannot be calculated with mathematical certainty, the jury has liberal discretion in assessing damages. In assessing damages, the jury may believe or disbelieved a claim of permanent impairment by a plaintiff. In personal injury cases, the trier of fact is not required to award substantial damages for lost income, permanent impairment, or pain and suffering; an award of no damages or only nominal damages for these items may be appropriate if the evidence so warrants. So, unless it can be shown that the jury’s award of damages was motivated by prejudice, passion or some improper element, that award will not be reversed.
Further, the law in Indiana allows an injured plaintiff damages for the reasonable cost of necessary medical expenses. It is possible for a jury to conclude that the actual medical expenses were not reasonable and award damages in an amount less than those expenses, although the actual amount paid for medical expenses can be evidence of the reasonable value of the services provided. It is the jury’s responsibility to evaluate the reasonableness of claimed damages, and, for that reason, a verdict slightly below the claimed special damages does not need to be reversible, unless it can meet the standard noted above.