Opinion
Argued May 4, 2001.
July 30, 2001.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendant appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Richmond County (Lebowitz, J.), dated October 30, 2000, which granted the plaintiff's motion pursuant to CPLR 4404(a) to set aside a jury verdict in favor of the defendant as against the weight of the evidence and for a new trial.
Robert P. Tusa (Sweetbaum Sweetbaum, Lake Success, N Y [Marshall D. Sweetbaum] of counsel), for appellant.
Fricke Solomon, P.C., Staten Island, N.Y. (Richard M. Fricke of counsel), for respondent.
Before: GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, J.P., SONDRA MILLER, LEO F. McGINITY, ROBERT W. SCHMIDT, JJ.
ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the motion is denied, the verdict is reinstated, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Richmond County, for the entry of an appropriate judgment.
The Supreme Court erred in concluding that the verdict in favor of the defendant was against the weight of the evidence. A jury verdict should not be set aside unless it could not have been reached on any fair interpretation of the evidence (see, Cohen v. Hallmark Cards, 45 N.Y.2d 493, 499; Ruscito v. Early, 253 A.D.2d 461; Nicastro v. Park, 113 A.D.2d 129). Contrary to the plaintiff's contention, the verdict that the defendant was not negligent in the operation of his vehicle at the time an unidentified assailant threw fireworks into the front passenger seat of the vehicle was based on a fair interpretation of the evidence (see, Dillman v. Bohemian Citizens Benevolent Socy., 227 A.D.2d 434; Mee-Hsiang Lee v. 69 Mott Street Corp., 257 A.D.2d 453).
KRAUSMAN, J.P., S. MILLER, McGINITY and SCHMIDT, JJ., concur.