In this action to recover damages for injuries sustained in a rear-end motor vehicle accident, the Appellate Division, Second Department, in accordance with Horn Appellate Group’s arguments on appeal, reversed the lower court’s denial of Plaintiff’s CPLR 4404(a) post-verdict motion on “weight of evidence” grounds, holding that the jury’s verdict was inconsistent insofar as it rejected the only nonnegligent explanation offered by the defendant but nevertheless found that the defendant was not negligent in crashing his tractor-trailer into the rear-end of the plaintiff’s vehicle. The Court further reasoned that while the verdict’s inconsistency had not been preserved as an issue of law via objection prior to the jury’s discharge (see, Barry v. Manglass, 55 NY2d 803 [1981]), “there is no preservation requirement for weight of evidence review” (Evans v. New York Trans. Auth., 179 AD3d 105 [2d Dept., 2019], Connolly, J., Opinion).
