In some east Texas truck accident cases, liability is clear. Everyone agrees who was at fault, but a trial may still be necessary because of a disagreement about the amount of money that it will take to fully compensate the plaintiff for the injuries caused by the defendant’s negligence.
In other cases, however, both liability and damages are contested, and the jury must decide both who was at fault and the amount of money due the “innocent” (or less at-fault, as the case may be) driver. Of course, the jury must follow certain rules and instructions in so doing, and it is not unusual for the losing side to file an appeal, arguing that the trial court gave erroneous instructions or that the jury misapplied the directions given by the judge.
Once the case reaches the appellate court level, the reviewing court has a few choices. It can reverse the lower court’s decision and send the case back for a retrial; it can opine that, although some error may have occurred, it did not ultimately affect the outcome of the proceedings; or it can determine that there were no errors made by the lower court.