The plaintiff was injured in a boating accident involving two defendants.
Prior to trial, the plaintiff entered into a Mary Carter agreement with one defendant, receiving a settlement of $365,000 for damages.
At trial, the jury assessed total damages at $312,021 and apportioned liability between the plaintiff and both defendants.
The trial judge refused to deduct the settlement amount from the damage award and ordered the non-settling defendant to pay his proportionate share.
The non-settling defendant appealed.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that the settlement monies must be deducted from the total damage award to prevent double recovery.
Since the settlement exceeded the total damages assessed, the action against the non-settling defendant was dismissed.
