Flannery v. United States

MILLER, Chief Justice:

In this case from the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals we are asked to determine two certified questions. The first is whether under our State damage law a plaintiff in a personal injury action who has been rendered permanently semi-comatose is entitled to recover for the impairment of his capacity to enjoy life. The second question is whether the trial court, when sitting as the finder of facts in a personal injury action, can deduct from the plaintiff’s award for lost earning capacity an amount equal to the federal income taxes which would have been levied…