Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket #223056; Unpublished
Judges Jansen, Zahra and Meter; unanimous; per curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not applicable, Link to Opinion
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Noneconomic Loss Liability for Serious Impairment of Body Function Threshold (Definition) [3135(1)]
Determining Serious Impairment of Body Function As a Matter of Law [3135(2)]
Causation Issues [3135]
Trial Procedure Issues [3135]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous unpublished per curiam opinion, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s refusal to grant JNOV to plaintiff after a jury verdict of no cause for action on plaintiff’s negligence claim. Plaintiff was injured in two motor vehicle accidents, the first in 1992 and the second in 1994. This case arose out of the second accident. The trial court granted directed verdict on defendant’s negligence and further ruled that plaintiff had suffered a serious impairment of body function, leaving the jury with only the issue of proximate causation. The jury found the defendant’s negligence was not the proximate cause of plaintiff’s shoulder injury. The trial court refused to disturb the verdict and the Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the jury’s verdict was not against the great weight of the evidence and stated that “reasonable jurors could have legitimately reached different conclusions regarding the cause of plaintiff’s injury.”