In an unpublished opinion issued on August 22, California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Two, upheld the state’s $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases against constitutional challenges based on the state constitutional rights to trial by jury and equal protection, and the separation of powers doctrine.

The most problematic part of the opinion is the court’s analysis of the California Constitution’s self-described “inviolate” right to a jury trial. The court of appeal said that the right to a jury trial “may be modified in furtherance of a legitimate state interest,” a standard that has never been used by the California Supreme Court when examining whether the jury trial right is violated and demotes the constitutional provision to the status of legislation. The court’s analysis ignores what was preserved when the right to jury trial was placed in the state constitution, secure from legislative intrusions. The court of appeal’s decision stands in stark contrast with recent decisions from the highest courts of other states that also have an “inviolate” right to a jury trial protected by their state constitutions.

The appeal came after a jury determined that the plaintiffs were entitled to $3.75 million in damages for noneconomic injuries that included permanent paralysis, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium. Under California’s cap, the trial judge reduced this portion of the jury’s verdict to $500,000: $250,000 for each plaintiff.

The plaintiffs are represented by CCL’s Valerie M. Nannery, David Bricker of Waters Kraus & Paul in Los Angeles, CA, Burt Rosenblatt of Ely, Bettini, Ulman & Rosenblatt in Phoenix, AZ, and Steven B. Stevens in Los Angeles, CA.