9 Conn. App. 386 | Conn. App. Ct. | 1986
The plaintiff is appealing from the judgment the trial court rendered after the court had granted the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict.
The plaintiff brought separate suits against the defendant and St. Francis Hospital. See Morales v. Saint Francis Hospital & Medical Center, 9 Conn. App. 379, 519 A.2d 86 (1986). The cases were consolidated in the trial court and tried together. At the close of the plaintiff’s case, the trial court denied the plaintiff’s motion to amend his complaint and then granted the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict on the ground that the plaintiff had failed to establish a prima facie case against the defendant. The court denied the hospital’s motion for a directed verdict. The trial continued against the hospital only and the jury returned a general verdict in favor of the hospital. The plaintiff then filed separate appeals from the judgments for the defendant and the hospital. Although the appeals were not combined in this court, they were argued at the same time.
In his first claim, the plaintiff alleges that the trial court erred in directing a verdict for the defendant and further erred in refusing to set aside the directed verdict. We find no merit to this claim.
“A directed verdict is justified if on the evidence the jury could not reasonably and legally reach any other conclusion than that embodied in the verdict as directed; Petyan v. Ellis, [200 Conn. 243, 244, 510 A.2d 1337 (1986)]; McDonald v. Connecticut Co., 151 Conn. 14, 17, 193 A.2d 490 (1963); or if the evidence is so weak
The facts viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff are as follows. The plaintiff, Jose A. Morales, a police officer, and a fellow officer were called to a pharmacy to investigate a claim of disturbance. When the officers arrived, they observed N, a patient who had previously escaped from St. Francis Hospital, waving a cane and an umbrella and knocking items from a shelf. Based on what they saw, the officers determined that N was mentally disturbed. The plaintiff then radioed for an ambulance which along with two attendants was sent to the scene by the defendant, Trinity Ambulance Service, Inc. A struggle with N ensued involving at various times the two police officers and the ambulance attendants. Under the control and direction of the plaintiff, the officers and the ambulance attendants attempted to place N on a stretcher and to fasten him into a restraining device. The device was secured by two zippers, one of which ran from the neck down to the feet and the other which ran from the feet to the ankles. During the struggle, which lasted but a few seconds, the plaintiff was struck in the eye by the broken end of the umbrella which was being held by N. As a result, the plaintiff suffered severe and permanent injuries to one of his eyes.
A review of the evidence offered at trial viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff reveals that the
When a prototype of the safety jacket was introduced into evidence, however, it became apparent that N could not have been zipped in the jacket in the manner suggested by the plaintiff because the primary zipper ran from the neck to the feet, with a second zipper starting at the ankles and running to the feet. The plaintiff did not claim that the prototype of the safety jacket introduced at trial was different in any material respect from the one used at the scene. It is apparent, therefore, that the plaintiff’s claim of negligence was based on a misunderstanding of the operation of the safety jacket and that this misunderstanding was fatal to his claim. We conclude, therefore, that the trial court did not err in directing a verdict in favor of the defendant and in denying the plaintiff’s motion to set aside the directed verdict.
The plaintiff’s second claim of error faults the trial court for refusing to allow the plaintiff to amend his complaint to conform to the proof. His amendment
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.