Emershaw-Andrieux v. Biddle

Summary

The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court’s denial of Cheryl Emershaw-Andrieux’s motion for a new trial following a jury verdict for Jeffrey S. Biddle and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. The Court held that the jury properly followed the instructions and that the verdict finding no negligence and no damages was supported by the evidence. It concluded that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion under the applicable great-weight-of-the-evidence standard.

Holdings

1. The jury did not fail to follow the instructions because the requirement that the percentages of fault total 100 percent applied only if both defendants were found negligent.
2. The Superior Court properly denied the motion for a new trial because a reasonable jury could find that Emershaw-Andrieux failed to prove negligence and that the collision was not the proximate cause of her alleged injuries.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the jury failed to follow the trial court's instructions by assigning zero fault to both Biddle and the phantom vehicle despite a verdict-form instruction that the defendants' total fault must equal 100 percent.
2. Whether the Superior Court abused its discretion by denying a new trial on the ground that the jury's verdict was against the great weight of the evidence.

Disposition

affirmed