211 Wis. 215 | Wis. | 1933
An order of a trial court granting a new trial is not to be disturbed unless there has been an abuse of judicial discretion, or the order, being one made as a matter of right, has resulted from an erroneous view of the law. Crombie v. Powers, 200 Wis. 299, 227 N. W. 278; Mellor v. Heggaton, 205 Wis. 42, 236 N. W. 558; Sickle v. Wolf, 91 Wis. 396, 64 N. W. 1028; Fontaine v. Fontaine, 205 Wis. 570, 238 N. W. 410. The order under consideration was granted on the motion of respondent because the court below concluded that, in connection with questions in the special verdict which concerned the conduct of respondent, no instruction was given to the jury as to the standard by which his behavior at the time of the accident was to be
The trial court concluded that there was a failure in these particulars in his charge to the jury with respect to the management of the truck by the respondent at the time of the accident. Respondent was charged with negligent conduct. He was not guilty of negligence if his acts were up
While Novak was exonerated, and there appears to be no contention that the jury were misinstructed as to his responsibilities, the trial court’s order for a new trial requires a resubmission of his part in the controversy as well as the claims of the other parties to the action. Orders for new trials may be generally classified as made either in the exercise of sound judicial discretion or as a matter of right when prejudicial error has been committed. The granting of such orders for whatever reason must rest largely in the first in
A resubmission of this case with proper questions as to whether the respondent negligently failed to yield the right of way and as to causation, under a charge by the trial court containing an exposition of the law applicable to the issues, will be in the interest of justice. We apprehend that the trial court felt that a partial statement of a proposition, or a statement which left unexplained the rules of law upon which either party relied, was not a complete and accurate statement of the law and necessarily resulted in an erroneous instruction, that may properly be cause for granting a new trial.
By the Court. — Order affirmed.