{
  "id": 11306939,
  "name": "EVELYN B. BROWN, Administratrix of the Estate of MICHAEL RAY BROWN, Deceased v. EDWARD MICHAEL MOORE",
  "name_abbreviation": "Brown v. Moore",
  "decision_date": "1974-07-17",
  "docket_number": "No. 7418SC431",
  "first_page": "445",
  "last_page": "449",
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    "name_abbreviation": "N.C. Ct. App.",
    "id": 14983,
    "name": "North Carolina Court of Appeals"
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      "cite": "238 N.C. 136",
      "category": "reporters:state",
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      "cite": "121 S.E. 755",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.",
      "year": 1924,
      "opinion_index": 0
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    {
      "cite": "187 N.C. 417",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "N.C.",
      "case_ids": [
        8653926
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      "year": 1924,
      "opinion_index": 0,
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        "/nc/187/0417-01"
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T16:09:41.671000+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
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  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "Judges Britt and Carson concur."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "EVELYN B. BROWN, Administratrix of the Estate of MICHAEL RAY BROWN, Deceased v. EDWARD MICHAEL MOORE"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "HEDRICK, Judge.\nIn her brief, plaintiff states that:\n\u201cThe main thrust of the appeal is that the verdict should have been set aside as being inadequate and all assignments of error are directed to this contention.\u201d\nBy assignments of error numbers 5 and 6, plaintiff contends the court erred in \u201callowing and instructing the jury to correct their improper verdict,\u201d and in denying her motion to set aside the verdict for inadequacy. When the jury returned to the courtroom and announced that it had reached a verdict, the record discloses the following:\n\u201cThe Court: Members of the Jury, here instead of a sum you have put in here \u2018Expenses for funeral, burial plot and ambulance, as cited in Court.\u2019 Now, I am aware that you didn\u2019t take notes, but the law would require that you answer that in a sum. If you like, I think we could probably stipulate as to what those sums are, could we not?\nException No. 32\nCounsel: Yes.\nThe Court: Who is the Foreman? You might come and take these Issues and you might add the sums up on the back, and then you may confer with your fellow Jurors to determine if that is your verdict, and if so, you may render it.\n(To counsel) : Gentlemen, will you stipulate that the expenses cited in Court were as follows: for funeral expenses : $2,121.84; for plot, marker, and interment, $612.00, and for ambulance, $23.00?\nCounsel: Yes.\nThe Court: If it is agreeable we will just allow them to take these Exhibits to the Jury Room in assisting them in arriving at their figure, if that is agreeable?\nMr. Baker : That is agreeable with us. They have been introduced.\nMr. Henson: That is agreeable with the defendant, Your Honor.\n(The Jurors retired to the Jury Room with the Exhibits introduced at the trial.)\nAt 5:53 p.m., the Jury returned with its verdict as follows:\nClerk: Members of the Jury, you have agreed upon your verdict. You answer the First Issue, \u2018Yes\u2019; the Second Issue, \u2018Yes\u2019; and the Third Issue, \u2018Yes.\u2019 You answer the Fourth Issue in the amount of $2,756.84; and the Fifth Issue, \u2018None.\u2019 This is your verdict, so say you all?\nSeveral Jurors : Yes.\nException No. 33\u201d\nIt is well-settled in this State that a jury may correct an improper verdict. Lumber Co. v. Lumber Co., 187 N.C. 417, 121 S.E. 755 (1924). It is equally well-settled that a motion to set aside a verdict for inadequacy is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial judge. Hinton v. Cline, 238 N.C. 136, 76 S.E. 2d 162 (1953). The record here discloses that the trial judge merely allowed the jury to correct an improper verdict on the issue of damages and that counsel for plaintiff assented to the procedure. Furthermore, on this record we cannot say that the trial judge abused his discretion in refusing to set aside the verdict for inadequacy. These assignments of error are not sustained.\nWe have carefully considered all of plaintiff\u2019s assignments of error and find them to be without merit.\nIn the trial in the Superior Court, we find\nNo error.\nJudges Britt and Carson concur.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "HEDRICK, Judge."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Floyd & Baker by Walter W. Baker, Jr., for plaintiff appellant.",
      "Henson, Donahue & Elrod by Perry C. Henson and Sammy R. Kirby for defendant appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "EVELYN B. BROWN, Administratrix of the Estate of MICHAEL RAY BROWN, Deceased v. EDWARD MICHAEL MOORE\nNo. 7418SC431\n(Filed 17 July 1974)\n1. Trial \u00a7 43\u2014 correction of verdict by jury\nWhere the jury in a wrongful death action answered the issue of compensatory damages, \u201cExpenses for funeral, burial plot and ambulance, as cited in Court,\u201d the trial court did not err in permitting the jury to correct its improper verdict by substituting the sum of such expenses as its verdict on the damages issue.\n2. Trial \u00a7 52\u2014 setting aside verdict for inadequacy\nThe trial court in a wrongful death action did not err in refusing to set aside for inadequacy a verdict which compensated plaintiff only for funeral, burial plot and ambulance expenses.\nAppeal by plaintiff from Long, Judge, 7 January 1974 Session of Superior Court held in Guilford County. Heard in the Court of Appeals on 8 May 1974.\nThis is a wrongful death action wherein the plaintiff, Evelyn B. Brown, Administratrix of the estate of Michael Ray Brown, seeks to recover damages from defendant, Edward Michael Moore, for the death of her 17 year old son, who was fatally injured in a one-car wreck which occurred on a rural paved road in Davidson County, North Carolina, approximately one mile south of High Point. At the time of the accident, the plaintiff\u2019s son was a passenger in the car being driven by defendant.\nAt trial, the plaintiff presented the testimony of the investigating highway patrolman who testified that the accident occurred on a sharp curve on a rural road where the speed limit was 55 miles per hour. The officer stated that the defendant told him after the accident that he was \u201cgoing something less than a hundred\u201d just prior to losing control of the vehicle.\nTerry Lee Gray, another passenger in the defendant\u2019s vehicle on the night of the accident, testified that the boys had been riding around most of the evening. Gray described the events preceding the accident as follows :\n\u201cPrior to the time he started speeding where the speed limit changed, I had no reason to fear riding with him. At the point where he did start speeding, I asked him to slow down several times. He didn\u2019t say anything. He didn\u2019t slow down. As we started into the curve where the wreck happened, I told him, \u2018Since you are not going to slow down, I am going to get in the back\u2019, so I started to get in the back and he told me he didn\u2019t blame me for getting in the back, so I went ahead and got in the back seat. I mentioned the curve to him prior to approaching the curve and getting in the back seat. I told him there was a bad curve coming up and we might not make it. While I was climbing over the back seat and going into that curve, Mike Brown told Mike to hold the car inside and work his way out in the curve. Mike Brown did not say anything else while we were on Burton Street Extension before that time.\u201d\nThe plaintiff also offered evidence tending to show that her son had a good reputation in the community where he lived.\nDefendant testified, and his version of the accident did not differ in material part from plaintiff\u2019s evidence.\nThe following issues were submitted and answered by the jury as indicated:\n\u201c1. Was the plaintiff\u2019s intestate, Michael Ray Brown, injured by the negligence of the defendant, Edward Michael Moore ?\nAnswer: Yes\n2. Did Michael Ray Brown, by his own negligence, contribute to his injury?\nAnswer: Yes\n3. Was the plaintiff\u2019s intestate, Michael Ray Brown, injured by the wilful and wanton negligence of the defendant, Edward Michael Moore?\nAnswer: Yes\n4. What amount, if any, should the plaintiff recover of the defendant for compensatory damages?\nAnswer: $2,756.84\n5. What amount, if any, should the plaintiff recover of the defendant for punitive damages?\nAnswer: None.\u201d\nFrom entry of judgment on the verdict, plaintiff appealed.\nFloyd & Baker by Walter W. Baker, Jr., for plaintiff appellant.\nHenson, Donahue & Elrod by Perry C. Henson and Sammy R. Kirby for defendant appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0445-01",
  "first_page_order": 477,
  "last_page_order": 481
}
