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