Metropolitan Railroad v. Moore

after stating the case as above reported, delivered the opinion of the. court.

The assignment of error relied on, and the only one we find it necessary to consider, is, that the court in general term refused to entertain the appeal from the action of the court at special term, overruling the motion for a new trial, so far as it was based on the ground that the verdict of the jury was against the weight of evidence, because it was not an order from which an appeal lies from the special to the general term, of the court.

The opinion of the court, which is sent up with the record, expressly considers, discusses, and decides all the questions arising on the bills of exception, but no reason is given for that part of the judgment refusing to consider- the appeal so far as it rested upon the order of the court at special term, overruling the motion for a new trial, based on the ground -that the verdict of the jury was against the weight of evidence. It was said in argument at the bar that this was because, a few

The sections of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to the District of Columbia, affecting the question, are as follows:

“Sec. 753. The several- general terms and special .terms of the circuit courts, district courts, and criminal courts authorized by law, are declared to be, severally, terms of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia; and the judgments, decrees, sentences, orders, proceedings, and acts of the general terms, special terms, circuit courts, district courts, and criminal courts rendered, made, or had, are and shall be deemed judgments, decrees, sentences, orders, proceedings, and acts of the Supreme Court; but nothing contained in this section shall affect the right of appeal, as provided by law.

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“ Sec. 772. Any party aggrieved by any order, judgment, or decree, made or pronounced at any special term, may, if the same involve the merits .of the action or proceeding, appeal therefrom to the general term of the Supreme Court, and, upon such appeal, the general term shall review such order,

judgment, or decree, and affirm, reverse, or modify the same, as shall be just.

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“Sec. 800. Non-enumerated motions in all suits and proceedings at law and in equity shall first be heard and determined at special terms. Suits in equity, not triable by jury, shall also be heard and determined at special terms. But the justice holding such special term may, in his discretion, order any such, motion or suit to be heard, in the first ins canoe, at á general term.

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“ Sec. 803. If, upon the trial of a cause, an exception be taken, it may be reduced to writing at the time, or it may be entered on the minutes of the justice and afterward settled in such manner as may be provided by the rules of the court, and then stated in writing in a case or bill of exceptions, with so much of the evidénce as may be material to the questions to be raised, but such case or bill of exceptions need not be sealed or signed.

“ Sec. 804. The justice who ■ tries the cause may, in his discretion, entertain a motion, to be made on his minutes, to set aside a verdict and grant a new trial upon exceptions, or for insufficient evidence, or for excessive damages; but' such motions shall be made at the same term at which the trial was had.

“ Sec. 805. When such motion is made and heard upon the minutes, an appeal to the general term may be taken from the decision, in which case a bill of exceptions or case shall be settled in the usual manner.

“ Sec. 806. ’ A motion for a new trial on a case or bill of exceptions, and an application for judgment on a special verdict, or a verdict' taken subject' to the opinion of the court, shall be heard in the first instance at a general term.”

The construction given by the court below to § 804 of the ^Revised Statutes is that it does not limit “the range of reasons for which the new trial might be granted by the judge who heard the cause;” but that.“the only purpose of the enumeration in the section was to designate the cases in

.But this construction of the statute overlooks the operation and effect of § 772. By that section an appeal will lie from the special to the general term from any order, judgment, or decree, “if the same involve the merits of the action or proceeding.” Certainly, motions for a new trial upon grounds other than those recited in § 801 are included in this description. A motion may be made to set aside a verdict and - grant a new trial on the ground that the verdict is against law, or against the instructions of the court, or for newly discovered evidence, or because the amount is less than it should have been where -the damages are ascertainable by some fixed rule of law, or for misconduct of the jury, or for fraud practised by the successful party. None of these cases are specifically recited in § 801, and yet, if we adopt the construction put upon that section 'by the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, no appeal can be had from the judgment of a special term in any 'of them, although they involve the merits of the aption or proceeding as completely as any of those mentioned in § 801.

• -It is the evident purpose and meaning of § 772 to give the fight of appeal from the special to the general term from every order, judgment, or decree involving the merits of tlie action or proceeding. There is nothing in the other sections referred to which necessarily limits that right, and any construction of their- language which has that effect is unwarranted. Their object is not to specify the cases in which the - action of the special term upon motions for a lew trial may. be .reviewed on ^appeal by the general term. Section 8Ó1 by itself merely provides that the justice who tries-the cause at special term may, in his discretion, entertain or refuse to entertain a motion to be made on his minutes to

The proper conclusion in reference to motions for a new trial upon other grounds than those specified in § 804 would seem to be, that in such cases the justice .who tries the - cause would have no discretion in reference to, entertaining them, but is required to consider them in the first instance, of course with the right of appeal to the general term from his action, as provided by § 772. Section 806 mentions the cases in which the hearing on a motion for a new trial shall be heard in the first instance at a general term. Section 804 provides for cases in which, according to the discretion of the justice who tries the cause, the hearing of the motion may. be had before him on his minutes in the first instance at a special term. Section 770 gives authority to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, in general term, to “ determine by rule what motions shall be . heard at. a special term, as non-enumerated motions, and what motions^shall be heard at ¿ general term in the first instance.” This power of discrimination by rule is, of course, subject to the statutory provisions contained in §§ 800, 804, 805 and 806but

It may be said that this construction of § 112 renders § 805 superfluous. If the former section, it may be said, secures the right of appeal from every order involving the merits, there was no necessity in § 805 for expressly granting it in the cases therein referred to. If this were true, it could not, we think, limit the operation of § 112. It must have effect according to its express terms and evident meaning; and a reason may be found for the introduction of § 805, as intended, by way of more abundant caution, to exclude a possible contrary conclusion, or to show that the appeal must be upon a bill of exceptions or a case.

•If § 805 is construed to limit the appeal to the general term to the particular cases mentioned in § 804, it may with equal force be contended that the enumeration of the particular motions, which by the latter, section the'justice, at special term, is permitted to entertain, by a necessary implication denies to him the power to consider motions for a new trial based on any other reasons. The language of the section is, that the judge, at special term, may, in his discretion, entertain the motions therein specified. No other section professes to confer power upon the court, at special term, to consider motions for a now trial of any other description. - -Can it thence be inferred that no such power exists? That conclusion is rejected by common consent. IIow, then, can it be said that § 805, which.recognizes the right of appeal only in the cases specified in § 804, by implication denies it in every other ? It. might more plausibly bo argued that all other cases, not included in §§ 804 and 805, are within the provisions of § S06, and may, in the first in

Upon this view of these statutory provisions, it is immaterial whether the motion for a new trial made in this case, so far as it was based on the ground that the verdict was against the weight of evidence, is embraced by § 804 as a motion to set aside a verdict for insufficient evidence; because, if it is not, still, as we have seen, an appeal lies by virtue of § 772 from the order of the special term denying the motion, because it involved the merits of the action. Nevertheless, we are of the opinion that the proper construction of § 804 embraces a motion for a new trial on the ground that the verdict is against the weight of evidence, as being within the terms “ for insufficient evidence, ” as used in that section.

Upon this point, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, in Stewart v. Elliott, 2 Mackey, 307 , 315, said: “ By a loose use of language, it may be said that a verdict ‘ contrary to the evidence,’ or ‘ against the weight of evidence,’ was rendered, upon ‘ inmfficient evidence ; ’ and, on the other hand, that a verdict upon insufficient evidence is one contrary to or against the weight of evidence. But we are dealing with legal expressions in their technical meaning; and it is familiar to all lawyers that evidence offered to a jury in a cause has a twofold sufficiency, i. e., sufficiency in law and sufficiency in fact; that of its sufficiency in 1cm the court is the exclusive judge; its sufficiency in

The court in the same opinion uses the following language (p. 314): “ There is not the .slightest desire upon our part to circumscribe the methods by which, according to the long established practice in this jurisdiction, the losing party may apply, in the trial court for a new trial. The courts of justice would lose much of their value unless this mode of redress against unjust verdicts was tenaciously preserved by the judge, to be applied in his discretion where he believed the jury have done manifest injustice by returning a verdict against the weight, of the evidence.”

"We see no reason, however, for supposing that the language in § 804, “ for insufficient evidence,” is to be limited to evidence insufficient in point of law. The words themselves do

So' upon the whole evidence in the case the testimony in support of the cause of action, or of the defence, may be so slight, although competent in law, or the preponderance against it may be-so convincing, that a verdict may be seen to be plainly unreasonable and unjust. In many cases it might be the duty of the court to withdraw the case from' the jury, or to direct a verdict in a particular way; and yet, in others, where it would be proper to submit the case to the jury, it might become its duty to set aside the verdict and grant a new trial. That obligation, however, is the result of a conclusion of fact, and in such cases the ground of the ruling is, that the verdict is not supported by sufficient evidence, because it is against the weight of the evidence. Therefore it was said by this court in Randall v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 109 U. S. 478 : “ It is the settled law of this court that wdien the evidence given at the trial, with all inferences that the jury could justifiably draw from it, is insufficient to support a verdict for the plaintiff, so that such verdict, if returned, must be set aside, the court is not bound to submit the case to the jury, but may direct a verdict for the defendant.” In many cases, therefore, the evidence is insufficient in law, because insufficient in fact.

The sections of the Revised Statutes relating to the District of Columbia under consideration, it is admitted, were taken substantially from the New York Code of Procedure of 1851-1S52; and it is admitted, also, that, by the construction placed upon the language contained in § 804 by the courts of New York, it includes motions to set aside a verdict against the weight of evidence, as within the phrase “ for insufficient evidence.” This was the very point determined in the case just referred to. of Algeo v. Duncan, 39 N. Y. 313 , and in McDonald v. Walter, 40 N. Y. 551 . The Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, however, in Stewart v. Elliott, ubi supra,

The language of the court in Stewart v. Elliott, ubi supra, on this point is: “This well settled practice, existing here when the act of March 3, 1863, was passed, should only be considered as changed by that act to the extent clearly indicated by its terms; and no latitude of construction can be allowed in the interpretation of a statute framed in derogation of common law principles. As was said by the court in the case in 24 Howard,” (Pr. Rep. 211, Algeo v. Duncan, before referred to,) “ it is a safe rule to apply the former practice and interpret the obscurities and deficiencies of the code by the light of that practice.”

But the act of March 3, 1863, “to reorganize the courts in the District of Columbia and for other purposes,” 12 Stat. 162 , was the introduction into the District of Columbia of a new organization of its judicial system. It established a single court, to be called the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, having general jurisdiction in law and equity. It gave to that court the same jurisdiction as was then possessed and exercised by the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, and to the justices of the new court the powers and jurisdiction of the judges of the Circuit Court. It also gave to each of the justices of the court power to hold a District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia, with all the powers and jurisdiction of other District

. ■ Instead of’ construing these new statutory provisions in the light of the .jurisprudence of Maryland previously prevailing in the District in reference to this subject, we think that when Congress reorganized the judicial system of the District, by abolishing the old courts and by establishing the present Supreme Court of the District, with its general and special terms, and adopted them from the legislation of New York in substantially the same language, these provisions are to be construed in the sense in which they were understood at the time in that system from which they were taken. In other words, we think that Congress adopted for this purpose the law of New York as it was understood in New York. McDonald v. Hovey, 110 U. S. 619 .

It follows, therefore, that the previous practice of the courts of Maryland, and the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in reference to writs of error to and appeals from the former Circuit Court of this District, are not entitled to the weight which was given to them by the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in Stewart v. Elliott, ubi supra, and in their judgment in this case. It is true that motions to grant a new trial, upon the ground that the-verdict is against

The difficulty in the way of a satisfactory judgment on the

It is our opinion, therefore, that the Supreme Court of the District at general term erred in dismissing the appeal from the order at special term denying the motion for a new trial on the ground that the verdict was against the weight of evidence. It should have entertained and considered the appeal on that ground.

It is urged in argument, however, that the error did not prejudice the plaintiff in error, because the court necessarily passed upon the same matter in considering and sustaining the ruling of the court at special term in refusing to instruct the jury to return- a verdict in favor of' the defendant upon the evidence offered by the plaintiff; but the question arising on this ruling, and that on the motion for a new trial at the conclusion of .the whole evidence, were not identical. It might well be, that on the plaintiff’s evidence there was a case sufficiently made out to submit to the jury, while on the whole testimony it might fairly be a question whether the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence, in that sense which would justify the court in granting a new trial. Of course, nothing we have said in this opinion is to be construed as indicating any rule of decision in such cases, or is intended in the least to narrow the province of the jury as the proper tribunal for determining questions of fact in

For this error, the judgment of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia at General Term is reversed, and the cause rema/nded, with directions to take further proceedings therein in conformity with this opinion.