Corcoran v. City of Chicago
Illinois Supreme Court
27 N.E.2d 451 (Ill. 1940)
John Corcoran (plaintiff) won a negligence verdict against Chicago (defendant) over injuries from defective streets, but the appellate court found the trial verdict against the weight of conflicting evidence and reversed for a new trial; Corcoran, seeking to avoid a retrial, successfully moved the appellate court to strike its own remand order so that, if he prevailed on further appeal, the original verdict could simply be reinstated, arguing the appellate court lacked authority to weigh facts and order a new trial in the first place, which he claimed effectively denied his constitutional jury-trial right.
Whether an appellate court is authorized to set aside a jury verdict on the grounds that the findings of fact were not supported by the evidence.