Can a jurys decision be overturned?
The answer to this question is yes. In any trial the judge is the ultimate decision maker because the judge has the authority in some rare instances to overturn a jury verdict. For instance, if a jury returns a $10 million verdict in a case that clearly is only worth $10,000.00 then the judge can overturn that verdict on the grounds of the jury award being excessive. Likewise in some states if the jury award is inadequate the judge may overturn the verdict on the grounds of it being inadequate, that is too low. Also if the judge determines that during the course of the trial there was some procedural error or evidentiary error in terms of the admission of evidence that was important to the case then the judge can overturn the jury verdict for that reason and order a new trial either on all of the issues presented or on some of them. In general though it is very rare that a judge overturns a jury verdict. See Brien Roche’s book “Law 101” published by Sphinx Publishing for more informati
