SHEPARD, C.J.
David Pullen sought damages for injuries he suffered when Debra Walker hit him from behind in a restaurant drive-through lane. After winning a jury verdict, Pullen sought a new trial asserting that the amount of damages awarded was against the weight of the evidence. The trial court granted the motion, but its findings of fact under Trial Rule 59(J) were not sufficient to demonstrate why the jury verdict should be cast aside. We reverse and remand with instructions to reinstate the jury’s verdict.
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Indiana Trial Rule 59(J) authorizes trial courts to grant new trials to correct an error in prior proceedings. In all cases where relief is granted, the court is required to “specify the general reasons” for granting relief. Setting aside a jury’s verdict and granting a new trial is not to be done lightly, thus Rule 59(J) requires that, when granting a new trial because the verdict does not accord with the evidence, judges must
make special findings of fact upon each material issue or element of the claim or defense upon which a new trial is granted. Such finding shall indicate whether the decision is against the weight of the evidence or whether it is clearly erroneous as contrary to or not supported by the evidence; if the decision is found to be against the weight of the evidence, the findings shall relate the supporting and opposing evidence to each issue upon which a new trial is granted; if the decision is found to be clearly erroneous as contrary to or not supported by the evidence, the findings shall show why the judgment was not entered upon the evidence.
Ind. Trial Rule 59(J).
We have long held that strict compliance with the substantive and procedural requirements of Trial Rule 59(J) is of “paramount” importance. Nissen Trampoline Co. v. Terre Haute First Nat’l Bank, 265 Ind. 457, 464, 358 N.E.2d 974, 978 (1976). Specific findings are necessary to temper the use of the “extraordinary and extreme” power to overturn a jury’s verdict by assuring that the decision is based on a complete analysis of the law and facts. Id. at 464–65, 358 N.E.2d at 978. In Weida v. Kegarise, we explained that the most important reason for Rule 59(J)’s “arduous and time-consuming requirements,” Nissen, 265 Ind. at 464–65, 358 N.E.2d at 978, is “to assure the public that the justice system is safe not only from capricious or malicious juries, but also from usurpation by unrestrained judges.” Weida, 849 N.E.2d at 1153. [Footnote omitted.] In other words, when a “court overrides the jury in its special domain and substitutes its own verdict for theirs without a clear showing that the ends of justice required it, it is likely that they did not.” State v. White, 474 N.E.2d 995, 1000 (Ind. 1985). When a court grants a new trial without making the specific findings, the remedy on appeal is to reinstate the jury verdict. Weida, 849 N.E.2d 1147.
In this case, the trial court granted a new trial because it believed the verdict did not accord with the evidence. It did not state whether the verdict was against the weight of the evidence or clearly erroneous. The court made only general findings and not the special findings required by Rule 59(J).
This case provides a prime example of why special findings are required when the judge acts as the thirteenth juror. Pullen claimed a total of $25,019.50 in damages for medical bills—$12,520 for treatment in 2004 and $12,499.50 for treatment in 2007 and 2008. The jury apparently did not agree that Walker’s negligence required all of those treatments and awarded Pullen $10,070 “for P.T. & inital [sic] medical assessment.” (App. at 8.) By our count, Pullen’s expenses for physical therapy, appointments with his regular physician, and the initial x-rays following his first appointment were $10,064. After hearing all the testimony, the jury may apparently have believed these damages were the result of Walker’s negligence, and believed Walker’s medical expert that the remainder of the expenses were either unnecessary or unrelated.
The court’s statement that the evidence was “undisputed” is not a sufficient special finding to justify supplanting the jury’s verdict. The trial court’s findings do not suggest that this was an unjust result.
Sullivan, Rucker, and David, JJ., concur.
DICKSON, J., concurs in result with separate opinion:
The majority views the jury verdict as just, noting that the verdict was arguably consistent with the jury’s apparent decision to award special damages only for the plaintiff’s physical therapy and initial medical assessment. This rationale omits consideration of the jury’s obvious failure to award any general damages for the inevitable pain and suffering associated with the initial injuries necessitating such treatment. The omission of any award for general damages undermines my confidence in the justness of the verdict.
I agree with the majority, however, that the trial court’s order granting a new trial was not compliant with the specificity requirements of Indiana Trial Rule 59(J). For this reason, I agree that the order granting a new trial must be reversed and the jury verdict reinstated.